3D printing has a problem…
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 พ.ค. 2024
- 3D printing has a problem: the spools. Let's see what we can do about it!
I love 3D Printing. From the homemade powerhouses dominating the foam-flinging hobby to running a print farm for this business, the ability to make things like this is world-changing. However, there is one problem that hasn't been addressed universally: Filament spools. With the recycling industry being broken from the ground up, and the current problems with international freight, I found a solution.
We have partnered with Proto-Pasta to bring the loop closer together. By reusing and repackaging their cardboard spools, and solidifying our supply chain with USA-based polymers, we can ultimately continue bringing you better products more reliably.
EDIT: For us and those local to Proto-Pasta, the answer is obvious because their spools are reusable, recyclable, and sustainable. It makes it a really easy decision when you not only cut out single-use plastic spools, but also additional packaging and freight. For other people outside the Pacific Northwest (and this is where our point was lost), we encourage people to find local suppliers that use cardboard spools or that use masterspooling -- even if it's initially more expensive -- rather than rely on filaments where the spool and other packaging would end up in the landfill.
Please consider clicking through the links below to read more about the broken recycling system in the US. Also linked below is Proto-Pasta's own site where you can purchase some of their own filaments directly.
Wendover's fantastic video on the subject:
• How China Broke the Wo...
Video by Climate Town about the history of the relationship with the plastics industry and recycling:
• Plastic Recycling is a...
EPA: 8.7% recycling rate for all plastics in 2018:
www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures...
NPR:
www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692...
John Oliver video (NSFW - Language):
• Plastics: Last Week To...
PBS:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/ar...
Medium:
/ here-are-5-reasons-exp...
Proto-Pasta (Our new USA filament supplier!):
www.proto-pasta.com/
Proto-Pasta's blog article on spools, waste, and customer experience:
www.proto-pasta.com/blogs/edi...
Proto-Pasta's latest blog article on what went into our partnership, including the stories behind the colors:
www.proto-pasta.com/blogs/sto...
FAQ & Corrections:
-If you have any questions about products we sell on the shop, don't hesitate to shoot us an email: orders@outofdarts.com
-Another possible solution to waste that was brought up in the comments was masterspooling, or refillable spools. We have looked into those, but they are complicated to package and ship, and represent a major hassle for manufacturing. I tested these from a few different companies and also had many winding and install issues. This could work on a hobbyist level, but at our scale, the issues can compound pretty hard. Additionally, masterspooling (or even spools larger than 1kg) tends to produce more filament and packaging waste. rendering the whole thing moot.
-Most of the filament we use (PLA and HTPLA) is compostable on a commercial level only, and labeling 3D printed parts doesn't guarantee that it gets recycled. We do our part to make quality prints that last. We're also currently discussing with Proto-Pasta ways to return failed prints to be returned to them. It's not trivial to do, as the parts need to be broken down into uniform pieces, or melted and processed into new pellets. Labor alone would probably cost more than the materials, but this is my ultimate goal someday.
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0:00 Opening
0:19 Background & Introduction
1:28 Recycling Is Broken
2:05 The Problem - Spools
3:47 The Other Problem - Packaging & Freight
4:20 Our Solution
6:54 Behind the Scenes at the Proto-Plant
7:33 Color Availability & Looking Forward
10:01 Closing Remarks
Out of Darts, run by Luke, is a one-stop nerf-modding hobby shop. We carry all the supplies, tools, and accessories to make your modding journey easier! We create original 3D-printed blasters and mod parts with almost 100 Prusa printers. Check out our site below for guides, build lists, and resources.
Please subscribe for more!
tinyurl.com/jnuot5d
My web store:
www.outofdarts.com
Product questions?
outofdarts.com/pages/contact
Follow me on Instagram for sneak peeks:
/ outofdarts
Edited by J Perry Heun, Out of Darts Video Editor
@ProtopastaMakers @ClimateTown - บันเทิง
We are so glad to start a conversation on minimizing waste in 3D printing! If you have a moment, we encourage you to look through the video description for further reading on plastics recycling, and some frequently asked questions from earlier comments on this video. If you have any other ideas on how to reduce waste in other ways, leave a reply or email us! - Perry
Shred the spools and then buy a extruder machine and use those spools to print parts, case solved.
And yes there is people showing how to do it on TH-cam how to even make a extruder machine. Best of all if you have a extruder machine you can be part of the solution of plastic recycling as plastic can be recycled and won't it be good if us the 3d printing community can help reduce plastic being dumped on landfills
Make spool towers like these and turn waste into art www.digitaltaxidermy.co.uk/stl-files-for-3d-printed-miniatures-and-terrain/spool-tower-upcycle-multi-level-modular-terrain.html
It's really great to see that you are thinking of this stuff. Only downside is that if for some reason Protopasta gets issues producing/delivering filament, you will have a huge issue for your company. Tying yourself to only one supplier is a risk. I'm sure you've calculated this risk and decided it is worth it, but make sure you have some kind of backup atleast!
I dont get it your making the same parts repeatedly for the cost of all those 3d printers you could have a nice cnc mill and an injection moulding machine or two the create the exact same parts cheaper, faster and higher quality
Proto-Pasta makes some of my favorite filaments, and I've tried them all. Your blasters are going to be so spicy.
Thanks! We love watching your channel! - Perry
They have so many unique options! Love your work, thanks for watching!
Zack wth are you doing there
@@Arek_R. This is how I learn all the topics for all of my projects - by watching videos from all kinds of Makers!
@@ZackFreedman Makes sense.
I'm a dyslexic Polish and I've landed electronics engineering job at food/nuclear industry in the UK by watching Dave Jones here on yt lol...
Love the sense of responsibility and use of local businesses!
For me the cardboard is just the superior way...even without the recycle aspect. They can be thrown away so much easier and can dont take up space, because they can be just folded down and put in the paper waste
Even better would be to use this
th-cam.com/video/aeJo-kKBtLk/w-d-xo.html
Wonderful choice going with Proto-Pasta! :)
Thanks! Love your content! - Perry
@@outofdarts thanks! and likewise :)
Hi
I'm so excited to partner with Proto-Pasta. What other forms of waste do you want to see addressed in the 3D-Printed space? Let us know below!
Need to encourage the master spool system
One time I got a package from you guys that was a filament box and I thought it was neat how you guys were recycling those kind of things.
Limited color/edition ProtoPasta Proud Papas!
@Diamondzfriend I'm pretty sure the spools are made of a different plastic
Might be a dumb question, is there a way to recycle filament? It would be nice if you could tske failed prints to Protoplasta and have them turn it back to filament
Masterspool refills have been the solution for so long. Manufacturers aren't pushing it enough.
They are complicated to package and ship, and represent a major hassle for the manufacturing. I tested these as well from a few different companies and also had many winding issues. This could work on a hobbyist level, but at our scale the issues can compound pretty hard.
Also, masterspools still require throw away plastic zip ties that aren't recyclable. Can't say whether that's better than cardboard, but I'd guess cardboard comes out ahead.
@@outofdarts I agree with your points, some of the newer master spools have velcro straps, which are plastic, but they can be used for lipo straps and more. The master spool should definitely be pushed more than standard plastic that is spooled as Masterspools are cheaper, no spool is needed and they take up less shipping space. They are still vacuum sealed and the machine winds the plastic normally just not onto a spool.
My go-to supplier adopted master spool refills right from the start and I've never had issues with their winding. I'm pretty sure it would be trivial to replace the zipties with paper strips, but I understand the bigger concerns with logistics for printfarms.
It's amazing to see someone from our small community drive a change that will undoubtedly range much wider.
@@outofdarts my local microcenter sells these Inland masterspools that are strapped with velcro straps that can be used somewhere else. They are also about $2 cheaper than their spooled counterparts.
Its crazy how sustainable a hobby printing shop is to have 100 printers. I did not think the hobby was that big
What blows me away is that even with our print volume, there are still dozens of other shops running farms, maybe hundreds of creators selling designs. This hobby has come so far!
That's not a hobby. Once you have employees, it's a job.
@@NoMoreBsPlease If it weren't for his dedication to this hobby and the community of people in it, there would be no business. To call it just a job would be missing the point. - Perry
@@NoMoreBsPlease or put differently: hobby+job=Dream
@@Deaner3D The difference between a hobby, and a GOOD job, is if you just don't feel it, and don't do your hobby one day, you still get to eat.
I am so glad you're speaking out on this issue. I run a small 3d printing business as well (a tiny fraction the size of yours) and it is a problem that has bothered me a lot as well. Luckily one of our local suppliers just switched their everyday line over to cardboard spools, I couldn't be happier.
Here in Sweden every home has different bins for soft plastic, hard plastic, metal, glass, biodegradable, magazines and cardboard. When I was at our recycling station working on computers I was shocked seeing them emptying containers of hard and soft plastic into the huge incinerator. So much for all that sorting.
Unfortunatelly, most of the waste separation on consumer side is just a ploy to make people feel like they're doing their part and to "shut them up". Most countries don't have the infrastructure to recycle most waste materials at all, even though they appear to separate and collect them for that purpose.
Similar thing in China. They have outer Shells for bins that have different slots for garbage and recycling, but they're all going into the same bin
"DAS FILAMENT" uses refill packages.
Great filament, verry strong and less then 20€ per kg (pla)
#MasterSpool 4 the WIN. ;-) One of the main reasons i use them as my "daily driver" filament.
Even better than cardboard spools, since it's basicaly just a few zip ties and a bag.
Never had any winding or knot issues with them, unless i f...ed something up during loading.
I'm also going to order my filament from them, because I want to support a German filament company, shorten the necessary route of transport and refill existing spools to reduce waste and costs. And their quality seems to be pretty decent.
+100 on that, I only use their filament on #MasterSpool and very happy with both price and quality. The only downside is limited colors...
I think pla could shipped even without the bag.
@@positron5687 I recently got into 3D printing, and purchased myself a Prusa Mk3S+ kit. It came with a spool of Prusament PLA. I managed to lose the heavy, resealable bag the spool came with, and it's humid right now. It took two days in a heated dry-box before I could print again after it had a day or so to soak up the humidity.
It's in a gasketed storage box now.
So, no, PLA can't be shipped even without the bag.
Can we all take a moment and reflect on the fact that 100 PRUSA printers means Luke spent close to 90K USD on printers thus far (obviously not counting the fillament). I am sure buying in bulk like he does probably gets you quite a substancial discount but even when we are talking about 30-ish percent discount that would still amount to 63K
I absolutely love the fact you (Luke) have the bussiness savvy to sustainably run 100 printers to actually ‘make enough money’ to warrant their existence in the first place without compromising on print quality or service.
I am starting to sound like a huge Fanboi Luke... Perhaps I am! Hah!
Keep it up sir.
Edit: Plot twist: Luke owns Proto Pasta! ;-)
30% discount would be amazing...In truth, 10% discount is available from Prusa for anyone ordering more than a couple printers, but that's about it...
@@outofdarts Yeah I figured as much.. It was more a matter of ensuring nobody would come in and say: ‘Ohh but dude! Do you really think Luke pays full retail on those? I bet he get’s loads off!”
:-)
They could probably be written off on his taxes as a Business expense though
@@nathanalmond3652 idk about Luke's state but in my state you are taxed on every peice of equipment you own to operate your business. Property tax. There is a depreciation deduction you can take but the Property tax is brutal.
That's a shitton of money
I ran into this issue at work recently. I'm a wire EDM programmer and operator and recently tried to look into recycling our spools from running the EDM machines. Only to find that there is no local or any recycler that would take the type of plastic used in the spools.
Congrats on partnering with Protpasta! I can't wait to see what you guys do next!
Wire EDM is super cool! We had some wire EDM done on our most recent injection mold.
As I was watching this I was thinking the same thing, Im in the uk and was told that there were people that would re use them I had a plie of about 230 ish and after 10 years of storing them i just smashed them up and put in the skip, mine were quite big as i use 16kg reels and with 40000 meters of wire on, from time to time I do have some say thats perfect for storing craft stuff, I dont think i would trust cardboard ones on my wire machine.
I'm usually sceptical when a business tries to do good. This seems genuine and it's practical since you aren't trying to save to world from everything.
Just minimize the damage from your end and maybe inspire some other businesses to do something similar.
It makes me really happy to see our community being environmentally conscious and addressing these issues.
I'd be interested in seeing more videos like this, about the ins and outs of your process. Do you work with SLA, for example? I've always wondered how that process compared to FDM in terms of sustainability.
Currently we don't work with SLA and resin printing. We aren't set up for the chemicals and ventilation required to make it safe for employees, let alone consider the environmental safety aspect. - Perry
To add to this; SLA Is probably worse than FDM for the environment, but that's a guess- I'm not an expert for sure.
@@outofdarts is there a large enough reason to use SLA/resin that you may try it in the future (with the correct space & equipment)?
Since most of the small 3d printed pieces from outofdarts are not usually visible (switch plates, flywheel cages, ect.), the investment of resin printing is really probably not worth it.
@@nonk8807 considering their line of jobs are not miniature nor engineering parts i don't see why they would need SLA.
There was a time when using paper was considered bad and plastic was being pushed as an environmentally friendly alternative to chopping down trees. Now paper is preferred to help combat the environmentally damaging plastic waste. Kind of ironic.
The plastics industry fooled us all. - Perry
I dont see the problem with plastic. PLA is derived from corn, which is the most abundant thing in the US. Why wouldnt you use corn instead of trees?
@@ilyarepin7750 PLA is actually a better filament because of this. The problem comes from materials like ABS and other petroleum based plastics.
@@3ktone685 Keep in mind, while pla is often called biodegradable, it is only biodegradable in enviorment that are almost never reached in nature. For it to biodegrade it almost requires specialized, controled enviornment, composting.
@@Freakmaster480 it does require commercial composting. I called a few places (and I live near Proto Pasta) and was told to not put any kind of plastic in with my compost or yard waste. If they find "foreign material" in with the compostables they send the entire truck to the landfill. I specifically asked about corn-based PLA and was told they aren't equipped to handle it, don't have a separate process for collecting it, don't plan to and "please only put food waste and yard waste in the compost bin". Ymmv
I would not have considered cardboard spools as the “superior” option until this video. Thank you!
You could reuse your current spools if protopasta would fill the plastic ones
I think what is needed is a two-piece spool that could be dismantled (the two halves separated) and nest-stacked so they could be sent back to the manufacturers. Maybe even encourage standardization of the spools across suppliers (i.e. an industry standard) with a standardized area on the spool flange for the manufacture to apply their brand and product label.
@@jonathanrabbitt check out MasterSpool, it's pretty much what you're describing and has seen at least some adoption.
I appreciate that you're taking it upon yourselves as a company to actively change things behind the scenes in order to tackle an issue. A lot of companies will take a stance against something while still doing something else that ends up being counter-productive. Big props to Proto-Pasta as well for tackling this issue.
This why you support small business. They are connected to their communities and invest in them. Any extra cost is usually worth it for the overall impact.
The problem has been partial solved. Master spools and spooless filaments. Every company should be able to do this.
I’m very curious why larger spools aren’t the direction you guys decided to go with? 10kg spools, with different printers dedicated to your main colors?
I use 3kg spools and they are about 2.5x as heavy as 3 1kg spools. It's a savings, but not much.
@@candorman9444 So in other words, you don't know either, and you've not given it much thought and don't intend to.
@@CenturianCornelious You are incorrect. Thanks for making my day a little bit worse for no reason, though.
@@candorman9444 lol Well, you're answer to Ren Fisher was a non sequitur.
@@CenturianCornelious Even if it was, no good reason to be mean.
Also, it wasn't as I was sharing potentially useful information to anyone interested in saving plastic by buying larger spools. One could wrongly assume a 3kg roll is significantly more of a savings than it is. A 10kg roll may even be less a savings.
man I'm so glad you opened my eyes to protopasta and them using cardboard spools. I was looking at my spool waste and I never really gave it much thought but now I am!!!!
Thank you bro
Great video OUT OF DARTS!! And massive props for putting so much effort into being more sustainable and supporting local business! Hopefully more manufacturers will abandon plastic spooling altogether. We use cardboard spooling ourselves, as do a few others, but we've been big fans of the Proto-Pasta materials and spooling since they launched. Kudos to them for working with you so closely! (Also have to give props to the quality of the Atomic filament lines)
Awesome work!!
"Hi I'm Luke, and I want to be out of spools."
PolyMaker's PolyTerra uses cardboard, too. Prints great, and is supposedly even more compostable than regular PLA (Though I haven't seen a test done on that specifically). I'll give Protopasta a look too.
why's no one also upvoting this. Protopasta is too expensive and fancy for me that PolyMaker is just perfect for me.
Man PolyTerra grey is my go to plastic, and the cardboard spools are great- and you really can’t beat the brand for the price!
LOVE this video! I'm always looking for ways to make 3D printing more "eco-friendly" and this is such a unique approach to the spool problem. Right now I just keep my spools and use tin snips to snip away bits to use as paint/bondo mixing palletes but even then I feel bad because it's just going in the trash after which almost feels worse.
I know i'm late to the party/video... but sooo thankful that Push Plastics is down the street from me and they offer the same sort of deal. Working with us on our custom colors. They'll take their spools back, reuse them, and i can swing by to pickup filament without the additional overhead of packaging and shipping.
This is extremely important to feed our 18 printer farm.
BTW... keep up the warehouse content Luke, you've been very inspiring as we start the process of moving out of my personal garage and into a proper warehouse facility.
It's crazy how recycling and trash waste is ignored worldwide
Sweden has waste incineration plants that actually burn garbage and generate 20% of Sweden’s district heating and provide electricity for a 250.000 homes.
What the average 3D printer user needs is a Self-Contained Recycling Unit (SCRU) that can turn waste plastic into shredded plastic bits, then remelt those bits and extrude the resultant remelt stream into filament, finally spooling it up on a metal or cardboard reel that is re-usable. Should be do-able with PLA, Polypropylene, Polyethylene, Nylon, PTFE, or ABS waste from a variety of streams with the proper temperature regulation and motion controls.
Slogan? When in doubt, SCRU it!
I think reliable grinding/remelt machines cost about $6000 US. I would love to SCRU my failed prints after they screwed me, but that's a lot of $$
Many of the plastics you named do not keep their properties and qualities as you keep remelting them, as far as I know. The resulting filament would be most likely very, very low quality.
Most of the filament shredder/recycler systems I have seen blend in new ("virgin") feedstock, which helps with the loss of quality issues (so only 20-30% reused material per output spool). But most systems also appear to not well tolerate a mix of polymers, so you need to know what is going in; and not all companies are forthcoming about what is "in" their "PLA+". But it is a good start! :)
Love the research that went into this and the conscience decisions you're making about the materials and companies you support when it comes to 3D Printing! The Proto Pasta filaments are lovely and the entire team there is amazing! I have a filament color I made with Proto Pasta it's called "Blood of My Enemies", can't wait to see what colors you come up with!!
The company my former job worked with had the worst system for the filament spools. They were massive chunks of plastic, and the spool rotated on an encoder, so the printer knew approximately how much filament was left. The problem was that the encoder was attached to the spool, so you were throwing out not just plastic, but circuitry too. It was only last summer that I did some digging and found out you can ship the spools back to the company, for no benefit outside of environmental impact. I mean, the least they could do would be a discount per spool returned or something!
The 3D printing filament industry has been needing to make this change in how things are packed and sold, but they're not the only ones. All MIG Welder Wire Spools are the abs plastic variety, but that, again is very small example of the worlds industries over use of plastic packaging in products that are bought and sold. Since China is no longer freely accepting the worlds plastic waste, industries have to be more responsible in how products produced for consumption are packaged. I meant to say thank you to OutOfDarts for shinning even small light on the need for changes that have been too slow in coming.
Absolutely. This issue is far more serious than many in the spotlight at the moment I'd say.
Another way to recycle is to send back failed prints so the filament can be melted down and reused. I'm not an expert on recycling, but is an idea I had
I’ve heard that this is rare, but hopefully more companies try and get a program like this going.
We've been discussing this with Proto-Pasta as well! It's not trivial to do, as the parts need to be broken down into uniform pieces, or melted and processed into new pellets. Labor alone would probably cost more than the materials, but this is my ultimate goal someday...
@@outofdarts good to hear you've considered it. Hope the impact your making on reducing waste inspires others to do the same.
@@outofdarts Could something like a ball mill work?
This is really good news! I love that you’re trying to cut down waste.
Here in Germany we have a huge push to get rid of plastic packaging. Plastic bags, straws, plates, or Q-tips are banned. All kind of companies try to reduce their packaging waste. This is driven by the consumer demand. Sure, some only do green washing, but there is a big proper effort. So over here, cardboard is not seen as a cheap option at all.
I am from Belgium and buy my filament from a Dutch company, i gladly pay 5€ more per kg (25 instead of 20) to have cardboard spools instead of plastic spools.
While I love Proto-Pasta, I just wish their prices were a little less expensive. $30 for a .5KG spool is brutal. For a smaller 3d printing company like mine (Retro Frog), it's hard to offer their filament regularly due to the prices. For about the same price of 2 Prota Pasta spools, I can have 2 spools of Prusament shipped all the way from the Czech Republic. And those are full 1KG spools so double the filament amount.
But man oh man do I love the High Five Blue.
My local microcenter has 2 aisles of filament: of those aisles, there are like 2 shelves with proto haphazardly stacked upon them. It's my favorite spot in the store lol
I love how your working toward a better tomorrow for 3d printing and the world in general. Big changes start small. I bet this video made others think like it did me. I think I may switch to proto from hatchbox after this.
Very much appreciate your dedication to buying American, supporting local business and consideration for the environment. Getting to do all three at once is amazing. I've only ordered upgrade springs so far but once I start getting into more intricate builds I'm going to need some 3D parts and eventually a proton pack....
Since not enough company's are offering masterspool refills would be cool to see an east coast filiment company follow suit
They are complicated to package and ship, and represent a major hassle for the manufacturing. I tested these as well from a few different companies and also had many winding issues. This could work on a hobbyist level, but at our scale the issues can compound pretty hard.
@@outofdarts well then time for us to start selling those bits and bobs pop out spool drawer conversions 😅 but on a serious note truly jealous of your proximity to such an awsome filiment company
@@outofdarts how hard would it be to design and build an easy to use respooler to make coils a more viable solution? Reduced shipping weight and carbon footprint (maybe solar powered).
It is time for the rise of the “waste plasma generator.” I think there is one in the PNW somewhere already. Check out an episode of the Stuff You Should Know podcast about waste plasma generators. I feel like it is something crucial to keeping us from going full Wall-E.
An inspirational video bro, love your decisions to go local and reduce plastic waste too. Keep up the great work and keep having fun too, it really shows that you love what you do 😄
Really glad I got this video recommended. I don't do much printing but I have been looking for a new company to get my filament from. This ticks a few boxes, from the same continent and less waste
My smartarse brother’s solution: 3D print more filament to fill the spools.
I’m sure someone can find a slight flaw with this solution...
Seriously packaging is full of unrecyclable plastics. We need to laws to make all non product materials to be utilitarian and compostable or recyclable.
Agreed, but in today's extreme "what about my freedoms" environment, that would be difficult. I say "just do it."
You don't need laws, you need functional engineering solutions. Laws muddy the water and involve ignorant bureaucrats.
For makers in asia, or if you don't want to spend as much as protoplasts, use ESUN's refilament. it's basically a roll of filament without the spool. The ESUN spool can be separated so new refilament rolls can be loaded into it. It's also cheaper than their regular ones
How convenient, I had just ordered a 3D printed gopro picatinny mount alongside other items (dat 29 talon mag). Glad to see how you'll go environmentally friendly with future prints!
Wouldn't it be nice if someone made their own 3D printing plastic from these spools?
Another reason why it sucks that many of these spools do not even say what plastic they are!
Would be very cool. Hard to do though and certainly not cost effective for a variety of reasons. It's a ton of work to grind, process and make new pellets out of something like a spool. Certainly possible though!
I forgot about the pellets. That would definitely be an obstacle to overcome.
How about a spool made of filament that breaks away on the sides as you use up the filament.
You said some of the spools were abs-pc. Is there such a thing as polycarbonate filament?
Would buy filament with cardboard spools if I could
Where are you based? In the US, 3dprintlife.com do their own filament on cardboard spools, and stock filamentive which is on cardboard spools.
it is always welcome to encourage Filament Manufacturers to make Masterspool Refills. Great concept I use for a while now.
The Masterspool is a reusable, self printed Spool in 2 parts that screw together. It can be refilled with 800 gramm coils of any filament. Sadly only very very few Manufacturers make these refills since they are harder to make to spec. For me only DASFILAMENT made working refills so far.
I am impressed at your enthusiasm and efforts to improve the quality of this hobby. Subscribed!
I mostly only buy 3DQF filament for this reason. I am in the UK and so are they. They use cardboard spools so I can just chuck them in my recycling bin. The only missing piece is as far as I know PLA is not made and cannot be sourced in the UK.
Try Filamentive, also in the UK, recycled plastics for the filament and cardboard spools. They do PLA (and PETG and a couple of others).
Too bad you can't melt the plastic spools down and turn them into injection molded parts for blasters.
well, if going the injection-molded route, they could've just injection mold blasters in the first place, however, as you know, molds are pretty expensive if you want a high-quality mold. What would be cool is that they spread the plastics spools and make filament out of it(there are some machines that can do this). But for it to be used on a blaster, there is still a long way to go, in terms of both cost and quality.
Excellent! This is the sort of action-following-idea that will make a dent in the overall problem of waste. So many people just preach. You are finding, and most importantly IMPLEMENTING, solutions! Kudos!
Great topic! I think it's great you're doing this, and hopefully it will ripple through the whole community.
Solution for Everyone Else tho?
its fortunate that you're local to them and can just drop off your old spools personally, thus avoiding the shipping economics issue.
I'm not seeing a real solution for everyone else in the world though....
Hej Luke, do you mark your parts to make clear which material it is? I started to do so. It costs nearly no money and maybe it helps in the future. ✌️
This! This is the type of responsible action I love to see companies take.
As much as I love this hobby and the people involved, this makes me love it so much more!!
Thanks for this, I've been trying to find ways to reuse the spools, printing out items to turn them into parts holders and the like, but the waste of the spools has always bothered me. Literally ordering from them right now, due to this video.
Cardboard spools are a great idea!
The ONLY video you ever need to watch is *Wendover Productions - How China Broke the World's Recycling*
For the most part, recycling plastic is based on a lie, the lie that it can be recycled in the first place. In the UK black plastic trays used in ready meals (it makes the food look 'better') aren't recyclable because the scanners in the recycling centres can't sort the colour black! As for reusing plastic for its original use, this isn't allowed for any food related items due to contamination. Everyday, domestic single-use items are really the only plastics that you can do anything about by separating them out, but it's a pretty futile endeavour given the scale of plastic usage - I think that we're encouraged to do this as it makes us 'feel better' by doing our bit to solve the problem.
Another one is *The Ocean Cleanup - How 1% of the World's Rivers Emit 80% of the Pollution to Our Oceans*.
I totally forgot to link that video. I love Wendover and I think I've seen every video he's done! Adding this to links!
There is also the major problem recycling has, which is power. Metal is a lot easier to recycle since while it does use lose some use, you can melt it and even the common man can do it with an easy set up. Glass is also another one that the common individual can and there is also the reuse of many products. Plastic is the odd one out, since it takes a significant more planning to do anything with.
@@josephking6251 I don't think enough is widely known on just how many types there are and the sheer scale of use of plastics, it's essentially what the modern world is made of. You only have to look at the world and products before Bakelite and realise to return to natural products is a no-go. The easiest to reuse thermoplastic, HDPE, can be reused many times but only 20% of recycled HDPE is mixed in the batch due to degradation with reheating etc. Thermoset plastics being more of a problem in recycling like nylon. Then there's the wind turbine blade problem... Who set this 12 years till we all die deadline for fossil fuels?
@@LoremIpsum1970 I completely agree with you on that one. Two of my biggest concerns is trash patches and the issues that mining the metals needed for green energy has with soil. It's part of why I like metal and glass. The reuse capabilities are endless. With plastic, there are only so many uses before you have to say what now. If I remember correctly, polypropylene, what a lot of grocery are made out of, is the one mostly reused at that is for rope because it floats. If we could find a more industrial use for recycling other plastics such as the ones spools are made out of, like we can with both polypropylene and nylon, then we can see better uses in recycling.
@@josephking6251 Yes, like the Wendover vid, said if there's no financial incentive there's no recycling... The irony of all the mining required for green energy and the environmental damage it will cause before the recycling systems can become self-sustaining (if that happens at all) is not lost on me.
Glass is great but if it were cheaper to use we would be using more and we would have to look at the impact, esp of power needed to reuse it and on scaling its usage for nearly 8 billion users. Simple solutions are great but they must be scalable over a realistic timescale.
The only financial incentives for plastic recycling at the moment is the global shipping of waste plastics - for it only to be dumped in rivers or burnt - is the biggest problem not being addressed. Here in the UK we haven't increased the recycling of plastics at all because we have no capacity to do more so it's landfill or burnt.
This is awesome, let's keep more companies moving this direction. So glad you're doing this.
There are some solutions
Use bigger spools, 5 or 10kg.
Use masterspool filament, there is no spool.
Recycle yourself with a filastruder.
Use fiament of companies, that do respool.
Here in germany there is a firm, you could send them and they do recycling filament out of them.
The way with protopasta is cool!
Keep on - happy printing.
Recently on reddit people mostly laughed when somebody pointed this out. You can argue most things people 3D print is waste. But that's nonsense. We need to reduce waste. The spool is 25 % of the weight of the filament it carries.
Plastic as a material is the problem, and everyone 3d printing knows its part of the problem. No matter what the spools are made out of. We are addicted to plastic, its cheap and easy. The spools just remind us of the problem, and solving the spool issue gives us a false sense of "we are doing something about the problem", while extruding plastic.
I commend you for your choice of using an environmentally conscious supplier and working with them to reduce, reuse, and recycle the spools. Personally, I think all manufacturers that use plastic should be responsible for recycling that packaging from the end user. I realize that may be expensive, but it would drive manufacturers to find a better, more sustainable solution. We should all use the power of purchase to drive more sustainable solutions to the plastic recycling problem by not buying products that are not recyclable, like using reusable water mugs instead of plastic water bottles and such. I will start to use Proto-Pasta filament for my 3d printing for this reason. Thanks for making this video!
A great approach to try and reduce unnecessary waste using a local company and I'd be happy to pay $1 more if my filament came on a recyclable spool.
I'm in Australia so nothing is very local. I'm using eSUN filament wherever possible as they sell a reusable spool and spool refills.
My failed prints, support material etc. are actually being shredded and used as filler in concrete garden statues.
I wish I could find a better use, but the mass recycling systems are pretty poor and it's the best way I can think of for now of reusing the waste.
Great video and big 👍
I have some questions.
1.John Oliver isn't known for his honesty. He's known for making incredulous statements to get laughs or claps. Sometimes true, many times not. Can his statements be verified?
2. You say 9% of all plastics have been recycled. Does that include all the plastic thrown out before people started really making recycling a thing? Does that number not include the amount of plastic privately recycled through reuse and upcycling? It's really easy to throw out vague figures to make something seem really bad or really good without actually giving people the whole picture, in fact, that's the majority of all information right now, specifically cherrypicked to fit someone's bias. These questions I'd love answered the most, because it's so easy to lie with numbers and sound honest.
3. I'm a bit older than you. I remember many phases of "being responsible." All bags used to be paper. Then we had plastic bags come in and people would literally ask "paper or plastic" and plastic was the "good for the environment" choice because paper means less trees and less trees is obviously bad for the environment. Then paper bags were nearly fully removed and we switched to plastic totally. But that does lead to a lot of plastic waste, so we moved to reusable bags. But because of the covid overreaction reusable bags have been lessened and now we're going back to paper... which is what we stopped doing to protect the world's forests from deforestation. How much of the cardboard spools are made from recycled paper. Do they contribute to deforestation?
This doesn't mean I don't support your main message. I too know the horror of empty spools, although I've seen many makers use spools as a base for organization, which is cool, with printable drawers that fit into spools. Reusing these rolls, its impossible to find a use for every one, but we need more trees than we do less plastic imo. But hey, maybe I'm wrong about the source of the cardboard, in which case, more power to it.
Thanks for your well thought-out comment!
1. We only pointed to John Oliver as a litmus test for how mainstream the concern for single-use plastics has become. We have many other sources listed in the video description which support a similar argument.
2. Also listed in the video description are articles that outline what that (generous) 9% estimate really means.
3. Proto-Pasta does use recycled cardboard (I can't remember what percent, I do apologize) for their spools; while the paper industry is not perfect, there are more sustainable practices out there now (like Oregon's reforestation efforts in the Forest Practices Act) that make deforestation less of a problem than the ecological impact of plastics and international freight.
We too have seen great strides in reusing and repurposing spools on a hobbyist level, and we encourage people to continue finding new ways of limiting waste. However, our scale of printing left us with more single-use plastic spools than we could reasonably repurpose. Masterspooling, while great in theory, poses a significant hassle to both our print farm techs and the manufacturers, and it produces *different* waste and not necessarily less.
I hope this addresses at least some your questions. We've found Proto-Pasta to be a solution for ourselves, and we hope others might also look into supporting local suppliers that package filament more responsibly than the standard single-use plastic spools. - Perry
@@outofdarts My gut feeling is that that 9% figure is probably off by a decimal point, or two.
@@S_Roach You're right. 9% is rounding in recycling's favor. the real percentage is less. More information can be found in the links in our video description. - Perry
Geeze I wish I had known this was nothing more than an advertisement for proto-pasta when I clicked.
If you want to do something about the problem, why not come up with a way of recycling the spools yourself, it's little more than shredding the plastic, melting it and extruding it to 1.75mm diameter filament. Better yet, convert the spools into energy through pyrolysis.
Work to fix the problem rather than just ignore it.
Not an ad, just the facts. Proto-Pasta is local to us, and cardboard spools are the way to go to reduce landfill waste, even with the existence of masterspooling.
We are not equipped to become a spool recycling facility, and such equipment is more expensive than the small amount of money we would save not using Proto-Pasta.
Proto-Pasta just makes sense for us. If you have a local supplier that takes spools back or recycles them into filament, then go for it. If they use cardboard spools, vote with your dollars and the industry will follow.
For more information about other possible avenues we've tried, please read the FAQ in our video description. - Perry
@@outofdarts And the solution for everyone else would be ... ? I think now you might start to see why he said it's nothing more than an ad, and i would also agree with that statement. Furthermore, since you have a video section called "The solution" in which you failed to provide an actual solution to this widespread problem (apart from the one that works for you, in your case), it also comes off as patting yourself on the back on top of it looking like an ad.
So yeah, in the end it comes off as nothing more than an ad for you and your partners and publicly patting yourself on the back, things for which most companies nowadays are known for, and not in a good way... Also, you get to score some easy "progressive" (not in a political sense) points. But hey, that's just my opinion i suppose. You know what they say about those...
One last thing. May i suggest the episode "Smug alert" in the South Park series ?
@@Alegzander1990 Thanks for your criticism. We are actually thinking of following this video up soon , because comments like yours have highlighted some gaps in our persuasive argument.
For us and those local to Proto-Pasta, the answer is obvious because their spools are reusable, recyclable and sustainable. It makes it a really easy decision when you not only cut out single-use plastic spools, but also additional packaging and freight. For other people outside the Pacific Northwest (and this is where our point was lost), we encourage people to find local suppliers that use cardboard spools or that use masterspooling -- even if it's more expensive -- rather than rely on filaments where the spool and other packaging would end up in the landfill.
We looked at the problem and found a solution for us, and thought we'd share our findings. We never thought we were the end-all be-all source for more sustainable 3D printing. If we were to do this video again, that is what I would try to address. - Perry
@@outofdarts Fair enough i suppose. It was the first video i've seen on your channel so i am not familiar with your channel or your business. I must say though that i am pleasantly surprised by your response.
However there is still one thing that does not compute, and that would be : *"we encourage people to find local suppliers that use cardboard spools or that use masterspooling -- even if it's more expensive -- rather than rely on filaments where the spool and other packaging would end up in the landfill."*
The answer to that ( and i would like to emphasize *"even if it's more expensive"* ) is simply ... NOPE ! Why should the end user be paying for the state (or whoever else's) inability, actually let's be frank, unwillingness to recycle as they should ? If by *"we encourage people"* you mean the average person 3d printing as a hobby and maybe also printing some functional things for himeself and those close to him, then this doesn't make any financial sense to be honest. This form of manufacturing BARERLY became affordable to the average person as of fairly recently and now "the plan" is to make it unafordable again because plastic is not being recycled as it should ??
If you also include businesses in that group, then good luck with that, especially in TODAY's capitalist environment. Sure, you guys did that, but then again you've got a say in the production process, you have custom colors, you sell those filaments (or at least you get a cut, if i understood correctly) so it's not like you have nothing to gain here and merely did it for "the planet". That is why i said previously it comes off a bit as "patting yourself on the back". As if ...
Anyway, my point is this : Coming up with a video and telling people that they should spend X.XX amount of times more on filament to "save the planet" should not be taken lightly, ESPECIALLY when you've got a horse in the race... That's my stance.
I have nothing against you guys (like i said, i don't even know you) and nothing against Proto Pasta.
If we really want to solve the problem, then i think the root issue is plastic not being recycled as it should and THAT ought to be addressed. How that could be done, i don't exactly know, i suppose it depends on where you are. Lobbying for it in the US, speaking to your state representatives, i don't know, but the root cause needs to be addressed. Plastic doesn't end up in a landfill just because of 3D printing and i feel it's unfair for your average hobbyist to bare the potential increase in cost. If they can find a supplier that provides cardboard spools at the same price or a price they feel comfortable with spending, then sure they should go for it and may also feel good about themselves for that, but the ROOT ISSUE will still most likely exist, therefore that's just a drop in the ocean. Sure, it's a start but the pat on the back is STILL unwaranted.
In conclusion : I'd rather buy plastic spools and lobby or speak to my state representatives about the problem of plastic recycling rather than paying more and not actually achieving anything in the grand scheme of things except for a fake sense of "self satisfaction".
@@outofdarts Also, if you want to promote your product and your business partners, then i have no issue with that either, more power to you. I don't pay your bills so as a business "you gotta do what you gotta do" to bring in profits, that's ABSOLOUTLEY fine. It was the context that irked me, and i think some other people too, not the fact that it MIGHT have looked like an ad.
If you want to make an ad and promote your products, just make an ad, noone's gonna protest about it. Just don't place it in a "social or politically charged context" if your goal is just to make an ad. Again, this is strictly my opinion, maybe I'm even wrong, but it sure seems to come across that way from where I'm sitting.
And you're going to ask "why can't it be both ?" and i think the answer is obvious. Deep down you may even truly believe it's both, but only YOU know that, not the rest of us, so i'd say drop "the planet" if it's an ad.
Thank you for talking about this. I tried many plastic recycling companies in the uk and no one was interested in PLA or any of the spools. It had to be a specific type and by the tonne. I have a pile of test prints that I don't know what to do with and one idea is to break up, melt down to slabs and try to use my cnc to make master spools.
Good to hear someone caring about the plastic waste from 3D printing and doing something to reduce it, especially in a larger scale. IC3D in Ohio just recently had a Spool Return Day and they let people drop off IC3D and Inland spools so they can respool them with their own recycled PETG. Love to see this progress
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Love your concern for sustainability! Keep doing amazing things!
Fantastic to see the passion for the hobby and trying to do the right thing once again from OOD! Every bit counts and great to see you goin to such lengths and supporting local in the process. Great work!
In regards to colour ranges, any plans to offer parts that match the Elite 2.0 "swirl-quoise" colour?..... please?
you are one of the only companies that actually makes an effort that isnt performative to stop pollution. very hopeful to see
I pretty much exclusivly print with filament from a local filament manufacturer. They are like 2km from me and you can buy the filaments without any spools and you can put them on your own master spools. And they great quality.
I love proto pasta!! I ordered some and completely worth the extra price. it comes out smooth even when I had a failed print.
Great video. I used to work for an ISP, back in Brazil, something like GoDaddy here.
I heard about Nerf but never saw one. One day, I saw them for sell at a toy store inside a mall. Bought my first nerf (fricking expensive, ten time the price in the US).
Brought to the office... and then, after little while... everybody had one, we had wars... darts flying everywhere.
Then I started painting and modding to make then more powerful, specially the ones with batteries... So much fun. Mine were so fast that even darts that were not supposed to whistle, would whistle.
One thing I really wish someone would become a norm is companies selling spooless filament that you could then wind around your existing plastic spools. I've only just started but already having gone through 2 soon to be 3 spools of filament the guilt I'm getting from just having them sitting around as useless pieces of plastic is pretty big. Surprised someone hasn't designed a mechanism you could 3d print to perfectly rewind your spools everytime tbh
Great work on bringing the recycling to everyone’s attention. We have recycling in my area but I often wonder what really happens with. The materials.
Respect to proto pasta. It takes a lot to do something that you know is right even if it doesn't help them. Also props to you for switching over. :)
I love this, the use of a local supplier and cardboard spools. If only all companies took this much effort in reducing their waste..
Seeing as you're printing in a commercial setting, you could also ask about heavier (2kg, 5kg or 10kg) spools.
Spool3d in Canada makes "respool" filament, which is basically just the filament without the spool. You make your own spool that you screw together. Orders over $140CAD get free shipping within Canada.
That sounds great for Canadian hobbyists! So called masterspooling is a great option for some, but at our scale leads to many problems; larger spools introduce similar errors in our experience.
We've found Proto-Pasta to be the best solution for us because they're just so local, but we encourage others to find suppliers local to them with cardboard spools or masterspooling services that fit their needs.
Personally for recycling my current plan is just categorising the plastics by melting temperature using a soldering iron and using the recycled stuff for infill. I'm storing them until I have enough kilos to warrant modding a shredder and grabbing a filastruder.
Where I live RepRap Portugal accepts spools to be filled with filament. But many people have sent spools of all types and brands now they can only accept the spools with the filament they make. Now they also discount 1 eur as an incentive to take back, for each 1kg spool they return. It was good to see more companies following this idea.
Its great that you're partnering with Protopasta and doing what you can to eliminate waste. Protopasta needs to have a competitive price point for everyone else though. They're about double the cost of Hatchbox.
This whole video for me was "huh those buildings and plants look pretty familiar" to "oh hey that's a local number for proto pasta" to "oh shit they're actually just right down the street from me" to 6:55 "hey i have that same red shirt" lol
Thanks for posting I just got a 3d printer hope to check them out when I get the hand of the printer
Have been a fan of 3d printing (mainly just following the space, not doing any printing myself), but always did wonder about what one does with the spools after they're used up. Kinda insane that a more eco-friendly option wasn't the standard from the start
Huge applause for your approach to this. The piece on ProtoPasta alone makes me want to look at their products and buy for the cardboard spool and, being in the midwest, reducing the carbon footprint for shipping. Cross country vs around the world....Also, I believe the approach in this and many things of this nature is to fully support those suppliers that are working on all these issues with climate and ecology at the heart of their culture. Lastly, I'd ask, are you working to process your scrap back into usable filament? I'd like to hear more about that. I've noticed a few products online for this process. Thank you. Great presentation and frankly those of us in this community from businesses to makers should take the lead on the atrocious lack of recycling. We should be the ones to show the rest of them how to do this right. Great step in the right direction!
absolutly fantastic move by you guys, love the shift to more environmentally friendly manufacturing
I wish that the Masterspool system caught on more, whenever my local supplier has compatible refills available I try to get them over filament on single use spools. Removing the spool completely is probably the best option for me, but it may be too fiddly for anything commercial.
Only a half step. For those running print farms the filament makers need to move to 10kg spools. Take a hint from the IT industry. Cabling can be delivered in bulk boxes. There are only 2 plastic parts -- exit port and rotating core. The balance of the box is just recyclable cardboard. By design it looks like a wine box with the cable sticking out. Just an idea.
Interesting video, I'm gonna check them out, until now I've just been buying Amazon spools and you're right, theres boxes on top of boxes plus the spool
In Europe, Formfutura has switched entirely to cardbox spools as well (very few exceptions at this point left). I really don't understand why not more producers have done so. I have made good experiences with their filaments so far. I would be very much in favour of refill packages and masterspools which would reduce even more waste but the market is still fairly narrow there.
The cardboard spools I have seen so far are every bit as robust as plastic ones.
The other thing on the market is rPLA, recycled PLA. That often comes on cardboard spools, as it should and while it is not the best choice for every task I liked those I got so far. It is not a bug but a feature that they come in very opaque colours.
Ok im sold, I'm completely switching to proto-pasta, I don't go through a lot of filament 5 spools in my 2.5 years of printing but the plastic spools buged me too. Plus the cardboard spools can't shatter off in Shipping and create a snag point on the spool. I also live in your area so its cool to me that it's local.
I love hearing about this and how you are implementing Lean Manufacturing as time goes on. It's also great to see how you are well aware of the fact that while you 3D Print items, that you try to minimize how much waste your are outputting. I think a lot of other companies (large and small) could definitely take some of your advice to heart.
Curious, with Proto-Pasta being a premium filament manufacturer, do you see a potential for prices to go up on 3D printed items? I'd have no problem if that were the case, as I feel all your prices are more than reasonable, but I was curious.
We're aiming to only adjust pricing on future items, no price increases planned for all existing products. When it really comes down to it; overhead + labor cost a lot more than the filament does.
Thanks Luke for sticking to reusable responsible materials!
This problem was addressed 35yrs ago in farm agg wires & rope spool. We use biodegradable cardboard boxes with the product spooled inside & you respool ur empty spool by hand from the large box. Also usually results in a bulk product discount.