Additive manufacturing technology is starting to gain more attention in the manufacturing industry due to its potential to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly, according to Mohou.com, a research team from the Technical University of Hamburg (TUHH) is working on a project called "Green 3D Printing. The project, led by Prof. Dr.-Ing, focuses on trying to turn paper waste such as egg cartons or egg paper, which are discarded everywhere in life, into raw materials for 3D printing in order to create more sustainable prototypes and models.
Plastic is a common material used in 3D printing, and it is often used to make prototypes and models. However, since not all raw materials come from sustainable producers and are often discarded after prototyping, this can lead to waste. Considering that plastic waste is a growing global problem, with 85 percent of the 40 million tons of municipal plastic waste generated in the United States going to landfills, TUHH researchers chose a more resource-efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to paper fiber materials.
Specifically, the "Green 3D Printing" project is designed to explore the feasibility of printing on paper fiber, a paper-like material that can be produced from discarded egg cartons that can be found everywhere in life. The project is funded by the Science Directorate's Energy Conversion Initiative program for a total of 26,300 euros, with a special focus on sustainability.
The first print made from paper fibers (photo credit: BWFGB)
From waste paper to finished 3D printed material
To be able to transform egg cartons into fibrous raw materials for 3D printing, researchers at the Technical University of Hamburg used individual paper fibers and mixed them into a flowable substance by adding water and binders. The team is currently working on a suitable material mixture to ensure that it can actually be used in a 3D printer. If also mixed with bio-binders, these additive manufacturing prototypes could even be disposed of as organic waste. However, TUHH's research involves not only the production of industrial prototypes, but also the production of end-use parts and custom packaging that can be used for shipping.
△ Pulp 3D printing and fabrication of parts
TUHH researchers are very pleased with this project, as TUHH Chairman Prof. Andreas Timm-Giel says: "Our current work, especially the TU Hamburg's TU project - the "Green 3D Printing Project" - is about finding new sustainable solutions. It can significantly reduce resource consumption and lead us to a more sustainable future. Specifically, we are testing 3D printing using paper-fiber composites. This can provide a sustainable alternative to plastic-based prototype and concept model manufacturing. The goal of the project is to develop a prototype system to evaluate its technical and economic applicability."
The research group at the Institute for Laser and Plant Systems Technology at Hamburg University of Technology has received awards on the international stage in the past for its work in the field of 3D printing: for example, the 2014 German Economic Innovation Award for research in industrial metal 3D printing and the Federal President's Prize for the Future in 2015. For their current project to produce 3D-printed materials, they are also currently patent-pending.
