UpFilT

Recycling of thermoformed components

The production of thermoformed components generates large quantities of offcuts, which can only be partially recycled and reused in the current state of the art. Instead, a large proportion of the waste is recycled by incineration. At the same time, thermoforming offers only very limited possibilities in the design of components, which is why thermoformed components often have to be supplemented in further work steps by gluing on separately manufactured functional elements. However, this not only increases the production costs, but also makes it considerably more difficult to recycle the component, as the individual parts made of different materials and glued together are very difficult to separate.

Process-optimized 3D printing method for upcycling

In the state of the art, there is virtually no alternative to the application of separate functional elements by gluing and the complete high-quality recycling of offcuts is not established for economic reasons. For complex components, the production costs are relatively high as a result. The UpFilT project aims to reduce the increased production effort and the associated recycling problems to a minimum by developing a process-optimized 3D printing method. By upcycling the offcuts into a filament, components can be produced from a homogeneous material while reducing waste.

Objective of UpFilT

UpFilt has two main objectives:

• The efficient upcycling of offcuts into a high-quality filament for 3D printing with reproducible material properties.
• The development of a process-optimized 3D printing method based on the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) process with the possibility of using the thermoformed components directly as a printing bed.

UpFilT is a project of the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units(ISW) at the University of Stuttgart in cooperation with SE Kunststoffverarbeitung GmbH & Co. KG and the Institute of Plastics Technology at the University of Stuttgart(IKT).

The project is funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation.