When the greatest share of a product’s environmental impact comes from producing its feedstock, selecting the right material is critical. For 3D printing and manufacturing in plastic, biopolymer could be the first step toward a more sustainable model.
The New Plastics Economy project of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has three tenets: One, plastics in use should stay in use. Two, plastic should be prevented from leaking into the environment, and existing litter should be recovered. And three, manufacturers should decouple from fossil fuel feedstock whenever possible.
The goal of this project is to establish a circular economy, or one which avoids waste and limits resource consumption by recirculating existing materials. In the case of plastics, a circular economy means recapturing and reusing existing plastics however possible, as well as limiting the creation of new, virgin materials made from nonrenewable fossil fuels.
“A single-use model where you extract fossil resources to make plastic, use it once, and landfill it — that’s the worst-case scenario,” says Dan Sawyer, business development leader at NatureWorks. The material manufacturer (jointly owned by Cargill and PTT Global Chemical) has been a collaborator with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for the past eight years, helping to advance its vision of a sustainable, circular economy for plastics.
Additive manufacturing (AM) has a role to play in that vision. 3D printing is one possible method for reusing plastic material and feeding it back into the economy in a new form. But the disruption AM brings provides an opening for more sustainable manufacturing far earlier in the product lifecycle. Each new part or product made possible by AM, and every existing part or product that moves to this workflow, presents an opportunity to evaluate material choice — and, potentially, choose to manufacture with a sustainable polymer. (Read more)
Very nice article. I certainly love this site. Stick with it!
Greate pieces. Keep posting such kind of info on your blog.
Im really impressed by it.
Hey there, You have done a great job. I’ll definitely digg it and individually suggest to my friends.
I’m sure they will be benefited from this web site.
I really like looking through a post that can make men and women think.
Also, many thanks for allowing me to comment!
Hello, I think your blog might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog in Firefox, it looks fine but
when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some
overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up!
Other then that, wonderful blog!
Hello there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay.
I’m definitely enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.
Yes, i do, but only privately yet.https://twitter.com/Chandsyy
It’s really a nice and useful piece of info. I am satisfied that
you shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us up
to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
My partner and I absolutely love your blog and find the majority of
your post’s to be precisely what I’m looking for. Would you
offer guest writers to write content in your case?
I wouldn’t mind publishing a post or elaborating on a few of the subjects you write concerning here.
Again, awesome site!
Yes, we can do that. But please send me a reference to your work first, thank you.
Everything is very open with a very clear description of the issues.
It was truly informative. Your website is extremely helpful.
Thanks for sharing!