Transformation of E-Waste Plastics into Sustainable Filaments for 3D Printing

Electronic waste (e-waste) plastics from end-of-life printers, predominantly polycarbonate, were upcycled and transformed into sustainable 3D printing filaments. Results from mechanical testing indicate that the e-waste plastics filaments and its 3D prints exhibit up to 76 and 83% of breaking and tensile strength respectively of its virgin counterparts produced from a widely used plastic for 3D printing, i.e., ABS. The 3D prints from e-waste plastic were more flexible compared to those from virgin plastics. SEM analysis of the fractured surface of the 3D prints post tensile testing is also presented in the paper. Furthermore, LCA studies on our filament production process indicate 28% reduction in CO2 emissions while using e-waste plastics as feedstock as compared to virgin plastics. Effects of repeated recycling, up to four extrusion cycles, on the virgin and e-waste plastic filaments were studied, and a comprehensive semiquantitative degradation mechanism for the same was proposed using results from C-13 NMR and TGA analysis.