Building the circular economy with 3D printing

Simply put, we cannot continue down the “take, make, waste and dispose” economic path we are on much longer if we are going to support the number of people projected to inhabit planet Earth (8.5 billion by 2030) with the necessary resources, not to mention improve the lives of many of its current occupants. Among 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set for by the United Nations in 2015 to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice and tackle climate change over the next 13 years, Goal 12 calls for responsible consumption and production.

As an alternative to today’s traditional, intensive linear production model, the concept of a circular economy has gained traction over the past few years. As McKinsey describes it “The circular economy aims to eradicate waste – not just from manufacturing processes, as lean management aspires to do, but systemically, throughout the life cycles and uses of products and their components.”

The circular economy originally was conceived to as a way to improve business processes and achieve the highest level of value and utility of products and their components. Its goal to continually recover and reuse these resources to reintroduce them back into the marketplace benefits businesses and makes customers a participant in end-of-life product recovery. As an overhaul of our traditional model of production, the circular economy now is considered key to the sustainable development necessary to meet the global and economic challenges we face.

3D printing moves us toward the circular economy

Moving to the circular economy will require not only a different mindset but new technologies to transform traditional manufacturing processes. Commercial 3D printing will revolutionize just that. The technology is gaining attention for its potential to revolutionize product production and reduce waste through the reuse of components. Specifically, here are some of the ways 3D printing can move us toward the circular economy:

Extend product life. Many damaged or broken products end up in recycling centers or landfills when all they need is a replacement part. By printing a part on demand, 3D printing can extend product life.

Simplify production: Modern production technology often results in complex multi-material products that have high part counts and correspondingly high assembly costs. Through the application of 3D printing, complex assemblies can be redesigned into a single part that utilizes just one material.

Reduce energy consumption. In traditional manufacturing, up to 30 pounds of materials are wasted for every pound of useful material utilized. By cutting the number of steps required, 3D printing can reduce energy consumption up to 50% for certain processes.

Reinvent supply chains. Modern supply chains are complex. Take the production of a simple pair of shoes, for example. It can contain up to 26 distinct materials, each with their own global supply chain. Since production requires manual assembly; the amount of preproduction waste is significant. Shipping shoes to and from warehouses also increases carbon emissions. Contrast this traditional process with 3D printing, whereby consumers will be able to go to local shoe store, get a 3D scan of their foot, choose a shoe design from the store’s digital inventory, and wait while their shoes are printed. By reinventing the supply chain, we can eliminate waste and emissions.

HP at the forefront

The potential for 3D printing to transform traditional models of production and address the sustainability challenges facing our planet is nothing short of a revolution, and HP is leading the charge.

We recently unveiled the world’s first production-ready commercial 3D printing system, signaling our next major step to bring disruptive manufacturing solutions to market. The new HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution revolutionizes design, prototyping and manufacturing, and for the first time, delivers superior quality physical parts up to 10 times faster and at half the cost of current 3D print systems. Major brands like Nike, BMW and Johnson & Johnson are already testing the printer for large-scale manufacturing.