From Food Waste to 3D Printed WOW ?? How we made a brand new 3D printing material ??

At Prusament we created a new line of 3D printing materials by using recycled materials & biobased pigments from food and pharma byproducts! ???? Dive with me into how it's made ??

These are the main stars of the show 1 - organic pigment made from food waste (wine specifically in the picture) and 2 - PLA waste from making food packaging (picture is just for illustration). Now let me explain how 3D printing filament is made:

Pigments and additives are mixed with a small amount of polymer into a so-called masterbatch using a specialized compounding machine. Thorough mixing of the pigments is crucial for achieving great results.

The filament is made with an extruder with two inputs: masterbatch and base polymer. Extruders excel at consistent output and precise diameter but struggle with mixing. Thus, the need for a well pre-mixed masterbatch first.

Let's start with the first - Wine Bordeaux ?? It is made from a waste byproduct that comes from the winemaking process ?? Fun fact: this pigment can be made only during the red wine-making season, which is approximately two months long (September/October).

Second is Algae Brown ???? Made from the byproduct of a local Czech company that uses red algae for making pharmaceutical products.

Risotto Cream ?? With creamy white coloring, which is made from various food leftovers. Of course, it goes through a complex process where the material gets dried and rid of microorganisms, so the final product is just a white pigment powder.

Corn Beige ?? is a beige/yellowish filament that gets its color from processed corn. When printing with it, you’ll be using a recycled corn material colored with recycled corn.

These pigments will not last indefinitely like their artificial counterparts, but I would say, in this case, it is a nice quality of the printed parts - getting sort of patina or imperfect over time.

The process is more difficult than making traditional filament - in this case, keeping the pigments dry is a challenge - this also translates into the filament, which is more hygroscopic and may need to be dried before printing.

Extra manufacturing steps usually prevent the recycled filaments from being cheaper than the regular filaments - this is very counterintuitive for most. Additional hurdles are present, too - is the material available all the time and volume available?

Contrary to set production schedules and perfect availability of virgin polymers and standard masterbatches. But the additional challenges are a small price to pay when the result is just soo nice.

We've been working on this project for over 2 years ?? and during the development, we had five iterations before we got it just perfect! These materials are perfect for home decor, but I would love to hear from YOU what special use comes to your mind ??

If you'd like to know more about it, check out our blog post! You can buy the materials and be the part of sustainable 3D printing here ??

I am Josef Pr??a , please follow me for more 3D printing articles like this one. I have been in 3D printing for 15 years, and 12 years ago, I started Prusa Research - the biggest EU 3D printer manufacturer.

And a big shoutout to AndrzejG on Printables for the epic Bauhaus tray model ??