Filament is the lifeblood of any 3D printer's hobby, and it comes in many different styles and colors. And while there's absolutely nothing wrong with buying filament from the store, there's also a good case to be made for re-using the plastic that surrounds us on a daily basis. After all, what better way to recycle plastic than to turn it into something else yourself?

4 Recycling failed prints into filament

Maybe not something you'd want to do yourself, but possible

Whenever one of your prints fails, it's natural to wonder if you can just turn it back into filament. Can't be too hard, right? Just melt down the filament, turn it into a ribbon, and voila, that failed print becomes more filament for you to print with. Why hasn't anyone thought of this yet?

Well, it turns out that not only have people thought of this, but they've made videos like the one above about what goes into recycling a failed 3D print. It's a very intriguing process, if not for the fact that you learn very quickly how many steps and expensive tools you need to convert that 3D-printed spaghetti mess back into filament. And it's possible that you can do this yourself, but given the amount of setup and money required, it's really not worth it.

However, that doesn't mean you can't get someone else to recycle your plastic instead. If you've got a box of failed prints and don't want to send them to the landfill, it's worth having a look to see if your country has a service that does it for you. For example, if you're in the US, there is Printerior Designs that accept bad prints, convert them into filament, and give you credit for getting filament.

3 Turn PET bottles into filament with the PETFusion 2.0

Put that Dr. Pepper addiction to good use

If your recycling bin is stuffed full of empty PET bottles, why not give them a second life as your next 3D print? This is what one product aims to do. The PETFusion 2.0 project accepts PET bottles and "unwinds" them into filaments. You can then add a dye to change the filament to whatever color you please and then use it in your next print to save yourself some money.

While there are machines that you can buy pre-built, some of them will require some DIY. For example, the PETFusion 2.0 has to be built by hand, using components you can 3D print. However, it makes for a nice project for your 3D printer.

2 3D print your own PET bottle filament maker so you can 3D print with PET bottles

Why buy what you can make?

If you'd rather not purchase a product, why not make your own PET bottle filament extractor? You can find the schematics for several across the internet and in maker's circles, and they usually go under the name "PET Filament Machine" or some variant of that.

For example, you have the Petalot Kit. This contains all the schematics, materials, and instructions you need to create your own PET bottle filament recycler. And yes, some of the parts in the Petalot Kit involve a 3D printer, which makes it a nice way for your hobby to build something for itself.

1 Purchase recycled 3D printer filament yourself

A little more eco-friendly

If none of the above ideas sounds ideal to you, but you still want to make use of recycled plastic instead of buying new, why not purchase filament made out of PET plastic? That way, you can help contribute to the cycle of reusing plastic without having to develop an addiction to soda.

The stores available to you will differ depending on what country you're in. If you're in the US, one good pick is IC3D Printing. This company sells all kinds of filament reels, and some of them are created from recycled material. Unfortuantely, grabbing a reel of recycled filament doesn't make it strictly cheaper; as we covered earlier, it's not an easy process getting all that plastic recycled. However, if you're eco-minded and prefer to reuse rather than buy new, it's a good way to do it.

Putting waste plastic to good use

Whether you're turning old 3D prints into something new, converting bottles into filament, or even buying reels from the source, there are plenty of ways you can adopt recycled plastics into your 3D printing hobby. Everyone knows we have a problem with plastic waste, so why not take advantage of that and turn it into something beneficial for your hobby?