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“This project has been going on for many years and has seen many ups and downs, and now seeing the Renew IT and SMaRT team running the filament micro-factory and keeping it up and running really brings a smile to my face,” said Sahajwalla.
Anirban Ghose, director of SMaRT’s micro-factory, said old office equipment is disassembled to find the “right plastic” and then fed into the “micro-factory”.
“The plastic is thermally transformed through controlled heating and cooling and finally wound into a roll that can be fed into a 3D printer at the end of the process,” he said.
It sounds simple, but the process of transforming materials considered waste into high-quality 3D printed products requires a solid foundation in science and engineering.
“In a lot of cases, when people think about plastic, it’s just one single material,” Sahajwalla said. “But there are many different versions of plastic.”
Her challenge was to find a way to safely convert plastics from discarded computers and printers into materials that could be remanufactured commercially.
An early version of the technology produced a material that was made into a pair of glasses presented to Indian leader Narendra Modi by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
“We were able to prove that our technology is fit for purpose,” Sahajwalla said.
The development of microfactories follows REDcycle collapses This resulted in 400 tonnes of soft plastic being sent to landfill and affected consumer confidence.
Sahajwala said the invention had the potential to restore public confidence in recycling and reduce waste going to landfill.
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3D printing has previously relied primarily on virgin plastics.
“Australia imports almost all of its plastic filament, so being able to produce it locally from waste plastics would also reduce the environmental impact of global shipping,” Sahajwalla said.
Lancaster said it could also help organisations lower emissions and bring manufacturing to Australia.
“If we can competitively produce 3D printing feedstock from recycled plastic, we shouldn’t be producing it from virgin material,” he said.
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