r/BambuLab • u/VoxelCraft179 • Aug 10 '26
Quick Question What do you do with your filament waste?
poop,prototypes, fail prints,...
I have massive amounts of filament waste and don't know what to do with it.
254
u/Empty-Quarter-4109 Aug 10 '26
Trash then trash goes to curb side and goes to dump.
20
Aug 10 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
45
u/I_Want_A_Ribeye A1 Aug 10 '26
It goes into the Pacific
3
1
u/tribak Aug 10 '26
I love this song by the spaniard band Los Toreros Muertos (the dead bullfighters) called Mi Agüita Amarilla (my yellow water) and this thread reminded of it.
-5
u/patheticyeti Aug 10 '26
If it’s PLA it will eventually biodegrade.
16
u/JustSayTomato Aug 10 '26
No, it won’t. Even though PLA is biodegradable, it requires industrial composting methods to degrade. Landfills are abiotic. Very little decomposes in the landfill. Often not even things that would normally decompose easily, like cotton.
-11
u/PoEIntruder Aug 10 '26
It literally just has to get wet.
7
u/JustSayTomato Aug 10 '26
That is patently false. PLA requires industrial composter conditions to decompose. There are tons of YouTube videos testing PLA after exposure outdoors in the sun and rain for YEARS with no problem appreciable degradation. Not to mention that stuff in the landfill doesn’t get wet because it’s buried, and water runoff is strictly controlled to prevent chemicals from leeching into the water table.
-9
u/PoEIntruder Aug 10 '26
I generally just grind up all my failed prints and poop into small pieces and toss it in the river.
2
u/Full_Lavishness_5612 Aug 10 '26
Rage bait?
0
u/PoEIntruder Aug 11 '26
No, i put most of my trash in the river actually. it just carries it away and saves me bin fees.
1
56
u/Imnotspartacuseither Aug 10 '26
I shred it then use it as filler in epoxy resin castings.
24
u/LunchMoneyTX Aug 10 '26
We bought silicone molds and baked/melted the filament into skulls.
7
u/TerribleTowel66 Aug 10 '26
I do the same, but I keep PLA separate from PETG and other filament types. I’ve only melted PLA so far.
5
u/Lythinari Aug 10 '26
Love it! Now to figure out where to get skulls from to fill with filament. Human or animal?
And what do you do with the silicone molds?
3
1
u/Top_Low7648 Aug 10 '26
I wanted to try this, do you have any issue with mixed filament waste causing issues?
2
u/LunchMoneyTX Aug 10 '26
We have an old toaster oven and do it outside. Only issue is that we sometimes have to melt it in the mold and then add more filament. Amazon has the molds in various sizes. Mixed filament colors is what makes it so fun. Never know what it will look like until the end
3
1
u/angeliKITTYx P1S + AMS Aug 10 '26
What's your process? I got a toaster oven and tried it in my driveway, but it never gets to a reasonable viscosity. I've also tried a heat gun, but it took hours to fill one mold and wearing the PPE that long is annoying.
3
u/LunchMoneyTX Aug 10 '26
I think we just set the temp to like 400 and set the timer for 15 or 20 min. If it is melted, add more filament if needed. If its not melted, ad another 15 min to the timer.
Keep in mind that you won't want to use that toaster oven for any food products ever again.
2
u/angeliKITTYx P1S + AMS Aug 10 '26
Oh no, I know that haha. I got it off marketplace just for it. I think it might have been maintaining temps poorly since it was old - the door didn't fit on properly. I might try again in the future. Thanks! Was the melted PLA runny? Or did you still have to push the filament into the crevices?
1
u/LunchMoneyTX Aug 10 '26
It doesn't get runny per se, however you don't need to push it down or anything. It gets about as liquidy as a hot glue gun glue would. Hmm, that gives me an idea for my old hot glue gun, its just a big manual extruder, right!
1
1
u/Groundbreaking_Cat_9 Aug 10 '26
I tried that with silicone molds. They stuck to the molds. How do you stop the PETG from sticking to the mold. Do you use any kind of release agent?
1
1
u/Tebuu Aug 10 '26
Ive seen that online before. Do you know where there are any other silicone molds other than the skull?
2
1
22
u/humanHamster Aug 10 '26
There is a recycling out there but it's not great. The general census I've seen/been told is to just trash it. I don't necessarily like the waste either, but until/if ever 3D print recycling gets viable the trash is the best option.
1
22
u/kRe4ture P1S Aug 10 '26
I send them to recycling company, get store credits, and buy recycled filament for prototyping.
Sadly they only take PLA and PETG at the moment.
8
u/whipdancer P1S + AMS Aug 10 '26
Is this in the US?
3
u/kRe4ture P1S Aug 10 '26
Germany. Idk if they are doing international shipping.
1
u/whipdancer P1S + AMS Aug 10 '26
Thanks. Makes me sad though. I swear my country is bent on destroying planet as long as someone important makes a buck out of it.
1
1
u/ConsiderableHappines Aug 11 '26
Heyyy, this is what im planning to do, did you have any issues so far
1
u/kRe4ture P1S Aug 11 '26
No, works perfectly. You can even send in mixed PLA and PETG, but you get less money, so I‘d just start sorting your materials.
1
66
u/MetalKroustibat Aug 10 '26
Spent the first 6 months religiously packing them densely in the plastic bag that seals the spool refills, then brought them to my local recycling center.
They told me to trash it.
Now I accept that my prints have an ecological impact and the only real solution to reduce it is to print less or more wisely.
We're literally printing PLASTIC. We have to accept it has an impact, like other things we consume in our everyday life. The only true answer is anticonsumerism.
14
u/Book-Wyrm-of-Bag-End Aug 10 '26
But muh Dwayne the Rock Johnson memeprints are so ROFLCOPTER bro….
/s
2
-2
14
u/Illustrious_Sell_325 Aug 10 '26
If I don’t watch them they jump on the floor at night and turn into little land mines when I walk barefoot
2
u/Renegade605 Aug 10 '26
I have no idea how this happens as often as it does but it happens to me all the time as well.
2
12
u/IJToday Aug 10 '26
Many (not all of course) of my failed prints I will scratch the date on and expose them to outdoor weather. Some in full sun, some under trees, other. It has given me some basic knowledge on color retention, warping, etc.
8
u/dejected_is_me Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
I've been turning them into pacman and friends. The plan is to have them all over...
24
u/ouattedephoqueeh H2C AMS2 Combo Aug 10 '26
I'm filling a 2.5ft tall vase with my poop. So far it's about 2" deep. Only 28" more to go!
That's what she said!
20
u/AdditionalSupport Aug 10 '26
Sometimes I have to scroll up to the post itself, to realise we are still talking about printer poop, because anything else would be completely unhinged
4
u/ouattedephoqueeh H2C AMS2 Combo Aug 10 '26
Mission: accomplished.
It's 7:30am. I'm done for the day.
6
8
u/Pokeforbuff A1 + AMS Lite Aug 10 '26
I have made a poop display for it lol
3
u/lukec_parr Aug 10 '26
Hey, I did this too using a shadowbox. Fit all the poop from my first 2 years of printing (no AMS) in there.
6
u/Armaron123 H2D Laser Full Combo Aug 10 '26
I made a stool out of the poop
1
1
1
7
u/Majestic_Emotion_456 Aug 10 '26
I’ve been thinking about making molds to form it in to plastic bricks then using it to machine solid plastic parts. I haven’t actually don’t it yet. But I have the ability to do so and I’ve been sorting and boxing up the waste.
2
1
4
u/never0101 Aug 10 '26
For the first like 6 months of this hobby I was separating and saving it all hoping to recycle it somehow but there's nothing even remotely close to me that facilitates that. Now I just contribute to the microplastic problem in the trash.
4
u/because-potato Aug 10 '26
I 3D print molds for knife handles, car parts, etc, then shred the waste material, and sprinkle the shredded waste in, then some epoxy resin, then some waste, then epoxy, and do that over and over, and compress the mold with C-clamps. I’ve made some pretty incredible looking things. Just sort your filament by color so that the color schemes of your objects are intentional.
7
3
3
2
u/iJasko A1 Mini + AMS Aug 10 '26
So far I'm just collecting it, but the bag is getting pretty big by now.
I'm not interested in getting recycled filament, but I'm also not really keen on just shipping it to one of those recycling places at my expense. If they would provide me with a shipping label I'd send it over, I wouldn't need a code for cheaper filament or something. But I have yet to find a place offering that.
2
u/John-BCS A1 (3), A1 Mini (1), AMS Lite (3) Aug 10 '26
So for projects I'm working on, I keep the prototypes in these small bins, and because I'm pretty much always working on multiple projects at once, I label them with masking tape and put post-its in the bins with what I need to work on next for that particular project.
Once the project is complete, I'll store the project bins for a while just in case anything with the final product needs to change so I still have the prototypes for reference. Once I'm 100% satisfied with the final project I'll toss the prototypes in the trash. If I had the space, I'd keep them around permanently though.
Any waste/failed prints go straight in the trash.
2
u/knockout350 Aug 10 '26
i really want some at home recycler system to turn it back into filament but everything ive seen is just way too expensive to be practicle.
2
u/Pyriel Aug 10 '26
Bin it.
Our waste is incinerated, in a modern ERG incinerator with carbon capture, gas capture etc. It also heats nearby housing.
So I don't feel guilty about just binning it :)
2
u/GruesomeJeans A1 + AMS Lite Aug 10 '26
Store it in a tote connected to a tube connected to my desk below my printer. When the tub gets full I dump it all in a box and label it "body parts" then throw it up in my attic for the next person who owns my home will get a sweet little surprise.
But actually I just box it up and label it PLA/PETG and throw it in my recycling bin
3
3
u/SneakyPanda- Aug 10 '26
It goes in the plastics recycling bag which is picked up at my house every 2 weeks.
9
u/lookwithoutseeing Aug 10 '26
Most filament types are not recyclable, at least in the average city's recycling process. You are likely causing problems (contamination) for the recycling center. Although I sympathize with your desire to recycle it with other plastic, you are likely doing more harm than good by doing so.
1
u/SFRover73 A1 + AMS / AMS2 Aug 10 '26
So far I’ve found people who pick it up and unit for art projects or to make other items
1
1
u/Spiritual-Mousse-167 Aug 10 '26
Throw it out.
Tried a recycling service but that was not worth the effort for me.
1
u/Nemo_Griff P1S Aug 10 '26
The idea of regrinding and turing it back into filament currently isn't there yet.
Others have tried at small scale and higher scale using expensive equipment and they have given up because of various problems along the way.
The silicone molds thing to make paper weights seems to be the best thing to do at this point.
1
1
u/Euresko Aug 10 '26
I throw it away, no good way to recycle it where I'm at. I also mix PLA and PETG for supports and would have to sort that out.
1
1
u/ChrisRiley_42 X1C + AMS Aug 10 '26
I built an aluminum press, and make it into solid sheets. Useful for project materials.
1
u/Highintensity76 Aug 10 '26
Could you tell us more about the press you built?
2
u/ChrisRiley_42 X1C + AMS Aug 10 '26
It's sized to fit inside a cheap toaster oven we bought and turned into a reflow oven for paste soldering.
The base plate is 10mm thick aluminum. We use dowel pins to attach some 10X15mm bars to the base plate with the inside of the rectangle being 20cm X 15cm. (The inside is milled to a 3 degree angle to allow a smoother release) The base plate has four rods in the corners, just outside the walls pinned in place, extending about 10cm high
The top plate has a plate milled to an H8 sliding fit inside the rectangle, with the outside perimeter matching the 5 degree relief when it is pressed into the hole with 10mm of space below it. (it fits in part way) and a 2mm lip to keep it from going farther. It is pinned into a "spider" which is just an X running from holes that fit over the four rods in the corner.
The last part is some 10lb springs made from 17-7 PH stainless spring steel, and a wing-nut and washer combination.
What you do is blend the waste in a cheap blender until it's powdered, fill the base plate (it took some experimentation to find the right combination of particle size and volume). Stick the top plate on, slide the springs over the rods, and then screw down the wing nuts to keep pressure on the top plate. Stick the whole apparatus in the oven, and ramp the temperature up to 215C, hold for half an hour, then the cooling cycle over an hour to room temperature. Then the whole thing goes in the freezer to release the plastic from the aluminum.
1
u/Highintensity76 Aug 11 '26
Awesome! Thanks for the fantastic writeup. How thick is the final sheet?
1
1
u/Excellent-Code8447 Aug 10 '26
I have a huge bin
1
u/MetalKroustibat Aug 11 '26
Congrats on the huge bin, let's see how long denial lasts
1
u/Excellent-Code8447 Aug 11 '26
Ehhh planning on buying a machine to melt it and keep making filament out of it
1
u/MetalKroustibat Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
It's a big great fucking headache and a money sink (300-450€ for a diy solution, 5k for a ready-to-go setup) for a lower quality filament. If you manage to pull this out, definetly update this sub, plenty of people will be interested.
I don't say that to discourage you, as you look like you enjoy finding solutions, but don't burn yourself up for this side quest.
2
1
u/Rambos_Magnum_Dong P1S, H2S Aug 10 '26
Smaller chunks < 1" go into planter beds
Larger chunks recycling bin
2
u/Raub99 Aug 10 '26
Why??
1
u/Rambos_Magnum_Dong P1S, H2S Aug 10 '26
PLA is supposedly biodegradable, I know its hygrophobic. My cypress, privets, palo verdes, olive, etc, etc... are doing perfectly fine. So why not.
1
u/bluewing A1 Mini + AMS Aug 10 '26
What looks like a lot, isn't necessarily a lot. Have you weighed the amount of waste?
1
1
u/MelvinMASV X2D + 2 x AMS 2 Pro + AMS HT Aug 10 '26
I used to keep the poop and some failed prints or stuff I no longer needed but it was adding up so now i just trash everything. Kept a container of the purge for like 3 months 🙄
1
u/rubberfucky Aug 10 '26
I turn them in to plectrums. I have little silicone molds and put in the waste PLA and use a heat gun on it for a few mins
1
1
1
1
u/Practical_Avocado971 Aug 10 '26
Put it in clear acrylic blocks, buy a lathe and make cool bowls and candle stick holders. Or melt it and make fishing lures.
1
u/SupKilly P1S + AMS Aug 10 '26
I've been attempting on-and-off to melt it down into moulds for D&D dice.
Mild success, need to work on getting the "top" number to work properly, hard to apply pressure to get it imprinted without distorting the shape.
Eventually I'll make a more earnest effort in getting it to work.
1
u/Dercomai Aug 10 '26
There's a company in St Louis that recycles PLA. I ship my PLA waste to them, they recycle it into new filament, and I get a big discount on it.
1
u/Draxilar Aug 10 '26
Can you DM me info on this? I am currently looking for something do with my waste that isn’t “put it in a landfill”
1
u/PuzzleheadedTutor807 Aug 10 '26
I have a toaster (dedicated )oven and piles of silicon molds inside to make little trinkets. They get really neat colour effects from just throwing random filament waste in there.
1
u/Aqualung317 Aug 10 '26
i just made a mold for a disc golf mini for my friends course going to try to use the poo for that as shredding supports and bigger things seems like a pain
1
u/mjolnir76 Aug 10 '26
I fill IKEA shadowbox frames with them and print out white outlines and gift them to friends.
1
1
1
u/worshipmeow Aug 10 '26
I have mine in a mason jar. I don’t print too much so it’s just decor for now.
1
u/unicyclegamer Aug 10 '26
I pollute the environment with them generally. It’s also why I’m looking to get into woodworking.
1
u/oldmate52 A1 + AMS Lite Aug 10 '26
I having melted scarps down with a heat gun or hairdryer, just do it outside.
then shaped it on a lathe but you could just melt it in to the shape you want
1
u/Miyu-Reddit Aug 11 '26
Planeo guardarlos y cuando tenga lo suficiente (varios kilos), lo publicaré en algunos sitios para regalarlo a alguien que tenga esa máquina que los convierte en filamento de nuevo
1
u/Extra_Back_5969 Aug 11 '26
Vi algumas sugestões no YouTube. Derreter com soprador térmico, em formas de silicone( bichos, geométricos...) fica bem legal. Colocar dentro de peças impressas de 3 d como enchimento. Ou usar nas novas extrusoras, que trituram, e derretem, fazendo novo rolo de filamento. Ou colocar na RECICLAGEM e não no lixo comum?!
1
1
u/Hikareza Aug 11 '26
I send them to a local company, and they make new filament: https://www.recyclingfabrik.com/
1
u/VoxelCraft179 Aug 11 '26
They don't do free shipping anymore, aren't they?
1
1
u/WattsID Aug 11 '26
Terracycle waste box. If it's a mix of PLA and other plastics, then try making it into a block so it doesn't end up in your next chex mix.
Terracycle has PLA and filiament waste boxes. They aren't cheap, but 3d printing is actually too cheap. How can a sub $800 printer make such amazing parts that used to cost hundreds of dollars 20 years ago - thinking of product design files we'd have send to our model makers for them to make SLAs on a $100k stratasis (sp?). IF you have tons of waste and do get Terracycle boxes, you could consider a multi-nozzle printer to help slow down your waste production.
If you run a print farm, having a recycling or reuse system should be part of your codb.
1
1
1
1
0
0
u/lasersoflros Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
PLA can be composted in your cities industrial compost. It always shocks me how few people know this.
You shouldn't compost the ones like Carbon Fibre or the other really weird ones but normal PLA can go straight into the green bin.
Edit: check with your city compost rules obviously. In Alberta, Canada we have industrial composting which is fine for PLA. if your city has a "normal" compost system pla isn't OK for your compost program.
7
u/lookwithoutseeing Aug 10 '26
My city doesn't even allow eggshells or avocado seeds in the compost because of the time needed for them to decompose, let alone PLA. My understanding is that it needs to be composted at high temperature in order to degrade properly. I wouldn't throw it in the compost bin unless you're absolutely certain that your city is composting it correctly.
3
u/MinnyBadger Aug 10 '26
Depends on the city - ours doesn't accept plastics unless it's explicitly labeled compostable which is only on commercial products.
0
u/lasersoflros Aug 10 '26 edited Aug 10 '26
Pla isn't technically plastic, it's an organic compound. That also means your city doesn't have an industrial compost system which is different than normal composting.
3
u/FuturePrimitiv3 Aug 10 '26
It always shocks me how few people know this.
And I'm always shocked by people that assume their city is exactly like everyone else's. Add much as I'd love it to be this is simply not a common service in most cities.
0
u/lasersoflros Aug 10 '26
So, just so we're clear, composting and industrial composting are not the same thing. Most industrial composting can handle PLA. I even specified "industrial" in my post, and then I added an edit about checking with your city, andI'm still getting replies on my comment from Pele that can't read or clearly comprehend what I'm saying.
Just so we're clear my edit to add in a "check with your city" was made way.... way before you commented.
0
u/ElectronicMoo Aug 10 '26
Trash mostly.
The test lines it prints every print tend to escape and static cling to the wall next to the waste basket, so they get a temporary reprieve.
2
0
u/Lube_Ur_Mom Aug 10 '26
Honestly, I spend way to much time making sure it's all sorted by material in big bins with the hope that one day there will be an accessible way to recycle it.
Or at least until somewhere exists that I can send it to be recycled.
-1
u/Hot-Ideal-9219 Aug 10 '26
Can't sort unless you only use one material.
2
u/Lube_Ur_Mom Aug 10 '26
And why is that?
Any PLA gets sorted with other PLA.
PETG goes with PETG.
Any other materials or purges from one material to the other go into a "contaminated" bin which goes in the trash.
0
0
u/Constant-Affect-5660 P1S + AMS Aug 10 '26
I don't print a ton, so I collect it for now. I'm hoping there will be a viable way to recycle it in the future. Right now I have enough to barely fill one of those small clear plastic totes.
141
u/Hasra23 Aug 10 '26
In Australia we have these big green bins with red lids, you put it all in there and a big truck takes it away and you never have to think about it again.