This study investigates the development of recycled filaments for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printers using waste materials such as failed prints and support structures. With the increasing use of 3D printing technologies in both industrial and personal applications, the generation of plastic waste has become a significant issue, both economically and environmentally. To address this, polylactic acid (PLA) waste was shredded and reprocessed into filaments using a commercial filament extruder (Noztek-touch) and a custom-built winding device. Key processing parameters, including nozzle and screw zone temperatures as well as motor speed, were systematically varied to produce filaments with consistent diameters and stable quality. The fabricated filaments were visually inspected and measured to evaluate surface uniformity and dimensional accuracy. This research aims to establish a reproducible methodology for producing usable recycled filaments from common 3D printing waste. Such a system could facilitate material circularity and contribute to the reduction of raw material consumption in additive manufacturing. Future work will focus on improving the thermal management of the extrusion process and optimizing conditions for maintaining filament integrity over multiple recycling cycles.
KANEKO et al. (Wed,) studied this question.