No available options to recycle 3D printer waste say City of Winnipeg

Whether it’s printing a keychain or manufacturing a part to help astronauts on the International Space Station, 3D printing is becoming more accessible and more common. But when it comes to the excess waste generated during the process, most of it ends up in the landfill.

Sean Stephensen is a mechanical engineer and a member of the 3D printing community. He says the craft inspired his career choice and currently works for Eascan Automation, which uses 3D printing regularly.

Whether it’s for hobby or business, there are currently no municipal options for recycling the printing waste.

“It’s hard to find information and even harder to make the right choice when you maybe have to pay to have it disposed of than the landfill,” said Stephensen.

The City of Winnipeg instructs people to throw it in the garbage. Stephenson says there must be a better way.

“I’d love to see it. Even if they’re not able to provide a full solution, maybe they’ll be able to start a conversation or host a dialogue.”

An interview with the city was not accommodated, but in a statement, the City of Winnipeg says it does not have “any plans to add these materials to our recycling program at this time” adding 3D printing waste would require us to prepare a business case with our contractor that would likely lead to an increase in costs.

The city also says while it’s unable to recycle 3D printer filament used at its public 3D printers, housed at the Millennium Library, there are steps being taken to mitigate the waste’s effect on the environment. Some filaments are biodegradable.

“Should somebody be looking at this waste department? Yes. Should they be reaching out to people like me to find out how to make their job easier, by gaining the knowledge that we’ve already acquired, versus trying to learn it themselves? Absolutely,” explained Alan Castell, Owner of Alpha Technologies which has a branch specifically dedicated to 3D printing.

Castell says the technology has yet to be adopted en masse, and given other issues in the city, it might not be a priority when it comes to city budgets.

He says right now, the community is considering banding together to purchase a machine capable of recycling the waste.

“I think a lot of the solutions in our city, crime included, could be dealt with by the communities getting together and coming up with some solutions that are independent of our politicians.”

Castell says whether it’s happening between the municipal leaders, or community members, the conversation on how to deal with the waste is an important one to have, especially as technology becomes more of a staple in modern society.