Prusa's Recycled PLA- What's your experience?
I've tried the Prusament recycled PLA, purchased directly from Prusa a couple of times now & results were great then terrible.
The first batch of recycled PLA I received was a dark shade, slightly lighter & slightly browner than Prusa's Galaxy Black Prusament. The color, although I could see other people might not have been totally pleased with it, actually worked great for the kinds of projects I'm working on. Far more importantly though, the flexibility, hardness, & overall durability was completely on par with the other Prusaments I've tried such as the galaxy black & silver filaments. For this level of quality, I could see how it would be justified that the price of this filament was only a small percentage off from the price of their other offerings.
The second batch of recycled PLA I received is severely disappointing by comparison. The color is a mid-dark grey with almost a green hue to it under specific lighting conditions- no issues there, I assumed from the beginning that the color of the recycled filament would vary & both these colors work well for me. What isn't good about it is the hardness of the filament. This batch turns out harder than any other PLA I've tried, including types I've tried from other manufacturers as well now. The hardness of this batch makes it the most brittle PLA I've seen, meaning thinner parts are much easier to break. Support removal is significantly worse as well. The supports are difficult to remove because it splinters & cracks up before it's hardly bent at all, plus the filament likes to crack into sharp edges that cut a lot easier while trying to get the rest off. Removing supports from this batch also results in significantly more mess from tiny splinters & shards flying out all over in every direction than any other PLA filament gives me.
Has anyone else's experience with the recycled PLA been so hit or miss? Discounting color entirely, I don't agree that the filament should be worth it's current price if the quality can be such a large gamble. If I were purchasing something I knew would be the same hardness as the grey batch I got (in a 2kg spool again), I would not pay more than $28 for that. If it came out much closer to the first batch I got, I'd happily purchase this type of filament at it's current price a couple 2kg spools at a time. Again though, I would not pay $45 (only $5 off from other Prusament 2kg spools) for a gamble whether or not it'll turn out like the second spool I got (and that is still discounting the fact that you are also gambling on receiving a random color).
PS, I am at least glad that the colors have stayed at a, what I would rate with probably 85%-90% success, black/grey scale colorless hue.