Is this sustainable?

Whether something is sustainable is not always easy to answer. Overall, you could certainly create your own Wikipedia on the subject. But since this page is not intended to serve as a source for scientific work, we want to limit ourselves to the essentials. To the things that play a role in our products and our company. To be honest, nobody wants to read half a novel here. Nevertheless, we have to go into a bit of detail.

Land of the Philistines

We can be proud of our bourgeois attitude! There are many prejudices about Germans, but hardly anyone will deny that we are true masters at sorting rubbish. Some neighbours even feel called upon to act as rubbish inspectors when rubbish is not sorted properly, so that the other tenants' transgressions can be put right back in front of their apartment door.

But how much is actually recycled in the end? We conducted a small survey on this and almost everyone was of the opinion that the recycling rate of the yellow bin is certainly over 75%.

In reality, the facts are different. Overall, not even 20% of the plastics from the yellow bin make it back into the cycle. Most plastics (over 65%) are used for “energy recovery”. Someone has spent a long time thinking about how to describe an incineration plant with a heating system connected to it.

sorted waste

This may not be surprising for some plastics. After all, some food packaging consists of many different types of plastic that cannot be separated using simple processes.

"But of course that's not true for our 3D printing residues. They are in their pure form. It's not a lump of ABS, PLA, PETG and TPU."

Would we bother to write this text if that were really the case?

The sad truth is that exactly 0% of our misprints, support structures or prototypes are recycled. At least not if we dispose of them in the yellow bin. The last journey of all our CaliCats, Marvins, Calibration Cubes and Benchys inevitably leads to energy recovery.

Recycling is not the same as recycling

How can we prevent the incineration and environmental pollution caused by plastics? By recycling our plastics. There are two types of recycling. Firstly, the energy-intensive raw material recycling and the less energy-consuming process of material recycling. However, only one of these processes makes sense for our 3D printing waste. In short: raw material recycling breaks down the plastics into their basic chemical building blocks. In material recycling, however, the chemical structure of the plastic is retained. We naturally use material recycling, which is much more energy efficient.

A good horse only jumps as high as it has to.

New vs. Recycling

Now that we have shown what kind of recycling we do, we want to compare it to new production. We could babble on about thermodynamic formulas and the law of conservation of energy, but we'd rather not. We'll leave that to the nerds. But we think it's clear to everyone that the new production of plastics, which consist of many basic materials that are brought in from all over the world, will use significantly more energy than a process in which we sort, shred, wash and reheat, to put it simply.

Finally...

But it is not just the use of energy that plays a role. Fossil fuels should also be avoided because of their finite nature. But that does not mean that plastics can be produced from renewable resources (mostly corn) with a clear conscience. In times when natural disasters are becoming more frequent and crop failures are increasing year after year, the use of renewable raw materials for plastics production must be viewed critically. If we happily continue to produce new plastics, we are creating a competing product for urgently needed food production. It is therefore necessary to create a cycle for plastics made from renewable resources so that they can be used multiple times.

reflection

We are not all wise either. Our concept has one very clear problem: transport!

We are aware of this and only send all your submissions using the climate-neutral “GoGreen” service provided by DHL. This is certainly not the miracle cure that our earth so desperately needs, but it is a step in the right direction.

The tool of the future

What have we learned now? Our 3D printed plastics end up in the fire if you throw them into the conventional waste management system. No matter how well you sort your leftovers at home. Plastics made from renewable resources are not harmless to our environment and the question of sustainability is definitely not easy to answer. Just because something is renewable does not necessarily mean it is sustainable. But what should be clear is that recycling cycles make sense for all recyclable materials. You just have to look at how you implement them. Cycles are the tools that give us a better future.

Always one step ahead

We are a startup and are still at the beginning, but we want to write a story together with you that will show future people and companies the way.

At the moment, humanity is stuck with both boots in the mud. Unable to move and with little room to free itself from the misery.

Plastics are not the problem. The real problem is us and how we deal with our recyclable materials. We are well on our way to jeopardizing the foundations of the next generations for consumption and greed!

We don't always do everything right. Many things can often be solved better and more sustainably. However, we only have a limited scope that we can use. Together with you, however, we can expand this scope and free humanity from the mud.

Stay Clean!