Would You be Interested in a Plastic Shredder to Recycle Plastics for 3D Printing?

[DBFIU]

Why all the push back from people? A plastic shredder would be a phenomenal addition to the 3D printing industry, recycling plastics will be the single best contribution humanity can do to the environment after we've been wrecking it for the past 100 years.

[richardphat]

Why all the push back from people? A plastic shredder would be a phenomenal addition to the 3D printing industry, recycling plastics will be the single best contribution humanity can do to the environment after we've been wrecking it for the past 100 years.

Because you would barely help the environment, and you will spent an ammount of energy to process it. That energy isn't free and they come from coil/fuel power plant most of the time. Pollution will be made into another form.

On top of that, you would have to separate the plastic which takes times and ressource, because people tend to mix stupid stuff when they are told otherwise, as an industrial perspective.

[DBFIU]

Because you would barely help the environment, and you will spent an ammount of energy to process it. That energy isn't free and they come from coil/fuel power plant most of the time. Pollution will be made into another form.

On top of that, you would have to separate the plastic which takes times and ressource, because people tend to mix stupid stuff when they are told otherwise, as an industrial perspective.

The amount of energy to power a plastic shredder will more then be made up when you can grind 50 lbs of PLA into pellets to be used again. I havent done the math, but a very slow high torque motor, assuming thats what is being used to shred the stuff, will not need that much electricity.

Sorting is part of what I do anyway when prints fail. Would you rather people throw away the plastic and just buy new rolls? How about shipping those rolls to your house? And where is the failed print going to go? Into the ocean probably. Pick your poison, I pick to recycle the plastic because I am a little optimistic.
As 3D printing emerges more and more, there will be tons more plastic being thrown out, and that is more wasteful then the 60watts of electricity used to grind the plastic back into pellets. Just my thoughts.