Every day, there are millions of PET bottles used, thrown out, and forgotten – accumulating in landfills and adding their own share to the global plastic crisis. While people become more aware of their surroundings and understand the gravity of plastic pollution problems, surveys indicate that only 12% of the used PET bottles get recycled. Unfortunately, the traditional recycling technologies are not only inefficient but also extremely time and energy-consuming. They cannot start working until they receive huge amounts of material to recycle; hence, the majority of households have no way of taking part in the process, leaving 88% of the bottles in the landfill.

Inspired by the current state of affairs and believing in the idea that sustainable manufacturing should be easy, we decided to build an affordable and efficient device for PET bottle filament production for 3D printing. The main feature that separates the new technology from the existing ones is the ability to recycle almost anything – you do not have to save bottles for days and weeks; even a single PET container can serve its purpose. In general, the principle of operation is quite simple. This system is constructed of simple yet carefully chosen parts that will work together to form a filament of consistent diameter and reliable properties, which will be necessary for proper functioning during printing. After its creation, the filament is automatically wound on the spool and becomes immediately available for further usage in any common FFF 3D printer as is, without further processing or modifications. This whole process from old bottles to ready-to-print filaments is supposed to be straightforward, easy to operate, and reproducible.

The filaments created using this technology can be used in a variety of simple products that may be needed in daily life, thus showing that there are no useless plastics in everyday garbage as long as the right opportunity to repurpose them comes. But besides solving an engineering problem, this project has a deep meaning and brings sustainability to people by giving everyone a chance to be a part of it. There is no necessity for an industrial factory or even lots of plastic garbage; you just need one used bottle from your kitchen. One bottle, one filament, one printed product — and one small but significant contribution to a cleaner, greener future.