Plastic in Practice: An empirical approach to 3D printed upcycling in New Zealand schools

10.26686/wgtn.17152049 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Maddison Jessop-Benseman

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

3D Printing ◽

National Curriculum ◽

Education Programme ◽

Learning Opportunities ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Cultural Shift ◽

Tactile Learning ◽

3D Printed ◽

Participatory Research Methods

Plastic has become an integral material in our society due to the broad range of applications it can be used for, however, it is having a detrimental effect on our environment. In addition to more efficient waste management systems, a cultural shift through education is fundamental for more effective management of plastic waste. Although the New Zealand National Curriculum currently teaches students about sustainability, the method of teaching remains conventional and does not explore the empirical, tactile learning opportunities that 3D printing provides. This research portfolio proposes the importance of an education programme which focuses on plastic waste, upcycling and 3D printing in New Zealand schools. It explores how tangible learning can engage students more effectively with topics such as sustainability. Through collaborating with students and teachers, participatory research methods have been employed in order to form a foundation for an education programme focused on 3D printed upcycling within New Zealand. The final output of this research consists of an education programme proposal, as well as a series of projects which could be integrated into the programme.

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Closing the Loop - Recycling Plastic Waste

10.26686/wgtn.17145728.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Caitlin Bruce

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Additive Manufacturing ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Building Material ◽

New Technologies ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Proof Of Concept ◽

Waste Production ◽

Closing The Loop ◽

3D Printed

New Zealand is ranked among the top nations in waste production, including a million tonnes of plastic waste. Currently, there are methods for recycling plastic within New Zealand but these methods can be expensive and time-consuming, resulting in most of the plastic being thrown into the landfill. Because plastic does not fully degrade, it ends up in the ocean and other waterways, poisoning the water with toxins. The purpose of this research is to provide a solution to reducing plastic waste by creating an alternative method of recycling that utilises new technologies such as additive manufacturing, to create a building material that fits into the concept of the circular economy. The findings of this research explored the recycling of plastic by collecting plastic waste such as PLA (Polylactic Acid) from old 3D printed models. The plastic was recycled into filament for additive manufacturing (AM) and used to print building tile, establishing an initial proof of concept for the use of recycled plastic as a potential building material.

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Sustainable advances in SLA/DLP 3D printing materials and processes

Green Chemistry ◽

10.1039/d1gc01489g ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 23 (18) ◽

pp. 6863-6897 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Erin M. Maines ◽

Mayuri K. Porwal ◽

Christopher J. Ellison ◽

Theresa M. Reineke

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

3D Printed

The 3D printing market is booming in various sectors coupled with an alarming increase in 3D printed plastic waste. This review summarizes sustainable advances in SLA/DLP plastic 3D printing to date and offers a perspective for further developments.

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Renewing Materials: 3D Printing and Distributed Recycling Disrupting Samoa's Plastic Waste Stream

10.26686/wgtn.17014067 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Lionel Taito-Taaalii Matamua

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Participatory Design ◽

Design Research ◽

Low Cost ◽

Field Work ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Waste Stream ◽

Small Scale ◽

The Arts ◽

3D Printed

This research addresses the serious issue of plastic waste in the Pacific. Using Samoa as a case study, we hypothesise that distributed recycling combined with 3D printing offers an opportunity to re-purpose and add new value to this difficult waste stream. It is also an opportunity to engage diverse local communities in Samoa by combining notions of participatory design, maker-spaces and ‘wikis’ of parts with traditional Samoan social concepts such as ‘Fa’a Samoa’, or ‘the Samoan way’ and sense of community. The project seeks to explore creative and innovative solutions to re-purposing plastic waste via a range of design research methods. Field work in Samoa has established the scope of the issue through interviews with different stakeholders such as Government, waste management businesses, the arts and crafts community and education. The field work has also helped identify potential product areas and collaborative partners. The different types of plastic in the waste stream have been identified and material experiments such as plastic shredding and filament extrusion are underway using low cost open source processing equipment to transform plastic waste into usable 3D printing filament. From this filament, potential 3D printed end products are explored through a hands-on researching by making process. The experiments inform the design of workable, economically viable, socially empowering and sustainable scenarios for re-purposing and up-cycling plastic waste; printed in the form of useful and culturally meaningful 3D printed objects, artifacts and products.Applications range from creating greater awareness of the issue by way of tourism and the Samoan notion of ‘mea alofa’ or ‘gifting’, through to functional utensils and parts. It is an opportunity to expand Samoa’s traditional forms of craft into new self-sustaining communities, maker-spaces and small scale local industries. The outputs of the initial project are intended to provoke discussion and invite participation in the implementation of these different scenarios of production.

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Dimensional Stability of 3D Printed Objects Made from Plastic Waste Using FDM: Potential Construction Applications

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings11110516 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 516

Author(s):

Essam Zaneldin ◽

Waleed Ahmed ◽

Aya Mansour ◽

Amged El Hassan

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Construction Projects ◽

Fused Deposition Modeling ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Fused Deposition ◽

Feasible Option ◽

3D Printers ◽

3D Printed

Construction projects are often challenged by tight budgets and limited time and resources. Contractors are, therefore, looking for ways to become competitive by improving efficiency and using cost-effective materials. Using three-dimensional (3D) printing for shaping materials to produce cost-effective construction elements is becoming a feasible option to make contractors more competitive locally and globally. The process capabilities for 3D printers and related devices have been tightened in recent years with the booming of 3D printing industries and applications. Contractors are attempting to improve production skills to satisfy firm specifications and standards, while attempting to have costs within competitive ranges. The aim of this research is to investigate and test the production process capability (Cp) of 3D printers using fused deposition modeling (FDM) to manufacture 3D printed parts made from plastic waste for use in the construction of buildings with different infill structures and internal designs to reduce cost. This was accomplished by calculating the actual requirement capabilities of the 3D printers under consideration. The production capabilities and requirements of FDM printers are first examined to develop instructions and assumptions to assist in deciphering the characteristics of the 3D printers that will be used. Possible applications in construction are then presented. As an essential outcome of this study, it was noticed that the 3D printed parts made from plastic waste using FDM printers are less expensive than using traditional lightweight non-load bearing concrete hollow masonry blocks, hourdi slab hollow bocks, and concrete face bricks.

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Closing the Loop - Recycling Plastic Waste

10.26686/wgtn.17145728 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Caitlin Bruce

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Additive Manufacturing ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Building Material ◽

New Technologies ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Proof Of Concept ◽

Waste Production ◽

Closing The Loop ◽

3D Printed

New Zealand is ranked among the top nations in waste production, including a million tonnes of plastic waste. Currently, there are methods for recycling plastic within New Zealand but these methods can be expensive and time-consuming, resulting in most of the plastic being thrown into the landfill. Because plastic does not fully degrade, it ends up in the ocean and other waterways, poisoning the water with toxins. The purpose of this research is to provide a solution to reducing plastic waste by creating an alternative method of recycling that utilises new technologies such as additive manufacturing, to create a building material that fits into the concept of the circular economy. The findings of this research explored the recycling of plastic by collecting plastic waste such as PLA (Polylactic Acid) from old 3D printed models. The plastic was recycled into filament for additive manufacturing (AM) and used to print building tile, establishing an initial proof of concept for the use of recycled plastic as a potential building material.

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Adding Value: Upcycling problematic plastic waste through digital craft

10.26686/wgtn.16675786 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Huy Tim

Keyword(s):

Field Research ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Research Approach ◽

Plastic Pollution ◽

Waste Streams ◽

Cultural Shift ◽

Research Through Design ◽

Practice Based Research ◽

3D Printed ◽

Single Use

Plastic pollution is and continues to be a growing problem in today’s world. The consequences of its abundance and combination of take, make, and waste practices linger within our environment and landfills, resulting in negative social, economic, and environmental impacts. Due to China’s new waste ban, New Zealand (NZ) is no longer able to export plastic waste overseas. With the current inadequate waste management infrastructure and without recycling restrictions on different types of plastics, this waste stream becomes complex and problematic. A significant amount of this waste originates from single-use and non-recyclable plastics, which has only increased over time with the emergence of consumer convenience packaging. Thus, in addition to new infrastructure and systems, a cultural shift and greater awareness is needed to address the plastic waste issue. There are existing industry leaders who have successfully closed the loop for recycling certain plastic waste streams in NZ. However, field research has revealed that even within such closed looped systems, some residual non-recyclable waste still remains. This research proposes to add new value to this low value and problematic waste in the form of highly crafted artefacts. This opportunity is explored with a ‘Research through Design’ methodology focusing on 3D printing and digital craft. This includes a practice-based research approach that includes material experimentation and reflective practice to inform the creation of design outputs. The investigation explores the upcycling of bottle caps and sticker labels as difficult and low value waste streams. Outputs include 3D printed artefacts for a variety of applications, including lighting, furniture and craft objects. These design outputs aim to demonstrate how undervalued and neglected materials can be reincarnated in a more durable form, to raise awareness and elicit responses regarding throwaway culture and the global waste problem.

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Renewing Materials: 3D Printing and Distributed Recycling Disrupting Samoa's Plastic Waste Stream

10.26686/wgtn.17014067.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Lionel Taito-Taaalii Matamua

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Participatory Design ◽

Design Research ◽

Low Cost ◽

Field Work ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Waste Stream ◽

Small Scale ◽

The Arts ◽

3D Printed

This research addresses the serious issue of plastic waste in the Pacific. Using Samoa as a case study, we hypothesise that distributed recycling combined with 3D printing offers an opportunity to re-purpose and add new value to this difficult waste stream. It is also an opportunity to engage diverse local communities in Samoa by combining notions of participatory design, maker-spaces and ‘wikis’ of parts with traditional Samoan social concepts such as ‘Fa’a Samoa’, or ‘the Samoan way’ and sense of community. The project seeks to explore creative and innovative solutions to re-purposing plastic waste via a range of design research methods. Field work in Samoa has established the scope of the issue through interviews with different stakeholders such as Government, waste management businesses, the arts and crafts community and education. The field work has also helped identify potential product areas and collaborative partners. The different types of plastic in the waste stream have been identified and material experiments such as plastic shredding and filament extrusion are underway using low cost open source processing equipment to transform plastic waste into usable 3D printing filament. From this filament, potential 3D printed end products are explored through a hands-on researching by making process. The experiments inform the design of workable, economically viable, socially empowering and sustainable scenarios for re-purposing and up-cycling plastic waste; printed in the form of useful and culturally meaningful 3D printed objects, artifacts and products.Applications range from creating greater awareness of the issue by way of tourism and the Samoan notion of ‘mea alofa’ or ‘gifting’, through to functional utensils and parts. It is an opportunity to expand Samoa’s traditional forms of craft into new self-sustaining communities, maker-spaces and small scale local industries. The outputs of the initial project are intended to provoke discussion and invite participation in the implementation of these different scenarios of production.

Download Full-text

Adding Value: Upcycling problematic plastic waste through digital craft

10.26686/wgtn.16675786.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Huy Tim

Keyword(s):

Field Research ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Research Approach ◽

Plastic Pollution ◽

Waste Streams ◽

Cultural Shift ◽

Research Through Design ◽

Practice Based Research ◽

3D Printed ◽

Single Use

Plastic pollution is and continues to be a growing problem in today’s world. The consequences of its abundance and combination of take, make, and waste practices linger within our environment and landfills, resulting in negative social, economic, and environmental impacts. Due to China’s new waste ban, New Zealand (NZ) is no longer able to export plastic waste overseas. With the current inadequate waste management infrastructure and without recycling restrictions on different types of plastics, this waste stream becomes complex and problematic. A significant amount of this waste originates from single-use and non-recyclable plastics, which has only increased over time with the emergence of consumer convenience packaging. Thus, in addition to new infrastructure and systems, a cultural shift and greater awareness is needed to address the plastic waste issue. There are existing industry leaders who have successfully closed the loop for recycling certain plastic waste streams in NZ. However, field research has revealed that even within such closed looped systems, some residual non-recyclable waste still remains. This research proposes to add new value to this low value and problematic waste in the form of highly crafted artefacts. This opportunity is explored with a ‘Research through Design’ methodology focusing on 3D printing and digital craft. This includes a practice-based research approach that includes material experimentation and reflective practice to inform the creation of design outputs. The investigation explores the upcycling of bottle caps and sticker labels as difficult and low value waste streams. Outputs include 3D printed artefacts for a variety of applications, including lighting, furniture and craft objects. These design outputs aim to demonstrate how undervalued and neglected materials can be reincarnated in a more durable form, to raise awareness and elicit responses regarding throwaway culture and the global waste problem.

Download Full-text

Air-crafted Artefacts: Additive upcycling plastics within the Aviation Tourism Industry

10.26686/wgtn.17151671 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Courtney Naismith

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Waste Management ◽

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

Plastic Waste ◽

Arts And Crafts ◽

Health Issues ◽

Plastic Bags ◽

3D Printed ◽

Single Use

Within the New Zealand Aviation Tourism Industry (NZATI), an extensive amount of single-use plastic is consumed due to its light-weight properties and stringent hygiene requirements. After use, most end up in landfills causing immense environmental and health issues. Plastic waste can no longer be sent overseas, and New Zealand (NZ) still lacks sustainable waste management infrastructure. Moreover, there are limited recycling solutions for certain types of plastics, such as soft plastic. This poses a challenge for the industry, which generates tonnes of plastic waste and carbon emissions annually despite the implementation of sustainable practices. This research presents an opportunity for industry leaders such as Air New Zealand (AirNZ) to shift their current waste management model into a closed-loop system. The system focuses on how to upcycle inflight plastic through 3D printing (3DP) technologies into high-value products that reflect the identity of NZ. The research introduces how to implement 3D printed upcycling systems to benefit NZ culturally, economically and environmentally through several scenarios. A materials-led investigation with soft plastic bags, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene meal trays and polystyrene coffee stirrers revealed a variety of design possibilities. This resulted in a range of 3DP artefacts with novel visual, tactile and structural qualities. These include baskets printed from soft plastic and flax filament, a large chandelier printed from coffee stirrers, and topographic tiles printed from in-flight meal trays combined with organic waste from the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute. The design outputs of this research act as a tangible reference for implementation by industry partners. Additionally, it demonstrates how 3DP and sustainable design approaches can be used to reduce environmental impacts and enhance product value. With a system of 3D printed upcycling in place, it provides the opportunity to promote sustainable tourism, allowing visitors to be responsible for their waste and encourage eco-conscious behaviours.

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