What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?  

RE:

Perhaps we have to convince manufacturers to make them of cardboard?

Disincentives to have non recyclable packaging regulations?

Probably nothing will happen before we are faced against the wall as a society and it is too late?

Scientists have been vocal but $$$$ is king.

It's the black ones that are most difficult.  Robotic sorters can identify lighter shades for recycling.  Black ones often defeat the scanners.  I have tried putting large numbers together so that it's worth a manual sorter getting involved (advice from recycling dept) but I don't know if they actually do so.

Cheerio,

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

Posted by: @richnormand

Perhaps we have to convince manufacturers to make them of cardboard?

Or we do buy spools made with cardboard from manufacturers which are already make them (Polyterra and others).

RE:

Just put them (Polyterra) on my list and I will be on the lookout for more manufacturers that do that.

Already put notes to some of my local providers to feedback to their suppliers that it would be a selling point to have recyclable spools.

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

Currently, I use the black plastic spools for wrapping up cords, rope, electrical cables, extension cords, etc.

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

As I live in Vienna and Prusa is near I source lots of material directly from Prusa. Maybe we should create something like a petition collecting people who want Prusa to sell filament on cardboard spools in the future? Is it worth a try? And if a big supplier is starting doing that I am sure others will follow.

Best regards, Clemens

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

There are also Companies like dasFilament, who just get rid of spools.

They give you files to print a spool once or order one and you get your filament tightly wound and held in place by cable ties. This reusable spool is in two parts and you can securely place the filament inside, put together both halves and then snip the ties. That way nothing has to be wound manually and nothing will unravel itself.

I use them for a while now and I like them. You also save 1€ per spool, if you buy it that way. 

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

Yes, it's the MasterSpool thing. Better than reusable or recyclable : no spool at all. I prefer this way and it's easy to find.

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

But my problem is, that I normally have about 50 to 60 spools of filament at home - so in that case I would have to have 60 of these master spools? Is there a way to use a specific filament on such a master spool and when finished you take off the filament (for example using a rope or something to keep the filament in good spooled shape) and put another filament on it? I don't like to print 60 master spools (another 10 or 15 kg of material).

Best regards, Clemens

I am now on the search for the master spool concept! 🙂

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

I used to buy Sunlu without the spool and use their reusable spool, but they appear to have stopped selling them.

I see Prusa are using cardboard centres with printed sides if manufacturers like/need a hard sided spool for spooling up the filament could we find some way to return the sides for reuse? We did this with glass bottles I know they were returned to a physical shop but we need to find a way to re-use this product as I'm sure manufacturing them uses a lot of energy and only a percentage of them can be and are recycled.

Are we happy to pay for this to happen? Do we ship them back, or do Prusa pack a return label with each spool and add the cost to the filament? Should we pay a deposit for the spool and have it returned when we return the spool, could the cost be worked into a subscription service? Should we get discount points for returning spools?

Food for thought

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

Do we ship them back, or do Prusa pack a return label with each spool and add the cost to the filament?

I vote no, just another slippery slope. Filament is expensive enough already. I've you feel stongly enough to pay then send them to Prusa, I'm sure they'll reuse them for you.

Should we pay a deposit for the spool and have it returned when we return the spool, could the cost be worked into a subscription service?

I vote definitely no, ditto low friction incline. Subscription services are wet dreams to vendors, constant cash flow, lovely jubbly.

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

Some Polyterra spools I've got lately were made from pressboard, a material somewhat like aspenite. Surely to goodness they could be reused though. The problem would be collecting them and returning them to wherever the filament is made.

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

LOL, maybe this is one situation where the landfill is the correct tool for the job.

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

Posted by: @jsw

LOL, maybe this is one situation where the landfill is the correct tool for the job.

Landfills are not really a thing over here anymore concerning household waste. It generally gets incinerated in energy retrieval facilities.

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

Posted by: @pjotrstrog

 

Posted by: @jsw

LOL, maybe this is one situation where the landfill is the correct tool for the job.

Landfills are not really a thing over here anymore concerning household waste. It generally gets incinerated in energy retrieval facilities.

They should do more of that kind of thing around here.

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

I would love to see one of my hobbies create as little waste as possible. In any case, rolls of cardboard could be a way here. And if you need hard sidewalls on the spool that run cleanly on ball bearings, for example - well, I suppose we can find an "adapter solution" for that.

Best regards, Clemens

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

I think returning them to Prusa is a great idea. I print quite a lot and have probably around 30 empty Prusa spools and another 20 from other manufacturers. Already I buy 'refills' sometime and put those on the eSun reUsable spools. I'd be happy to take the cardboard center out to reduce shipping volume and return them only I'm not sure Prusa would be open for that?? Maybe we can collect some here in Flanders and do a joint shipment sometime??

b..

RE: What do you do with your empty 3d print spools?

I guess I was the one who started this thread some time ago.

As things drag on and on, and the stack of old plastic spools cyclically grows and disappears as I collect them and get tired of looking at them and place them in the regular garbage container.

I'm thinking more and more that, for this type of waste, the landfill is the best currently-available tool of choice for this particular type of waste.

I'm certainly not willing to pay to ship them to the Czech Republic from the US, nor even to pay market rate shipping fees to send them anywhere Stateside.

I've also had some poor luck going for the brands that try to use cardboard spools, particularly with the Ultimaker machine.  The issue has been the dimensions of the spools themselves, and of the holes in the center.  I'm currently running a print with Polymaker ABS, and the width of the spool is just too much to fit on the Ultimaker 'peg' on the rear of the printer.  This is a day-plus print, and every so often I check it to be sure it's not about to fall off.

Another was with MG Chemicals, where the plastic inserts (HUGE in comparison to other brands) had to be broken out in order to fit on the peg, and when the inserts were removed, the spool was too wide and the peg would not hold it at all.  I ended up placing it on one of those MMU2S roller spool holders beside the machine to use the filament.  I've avoided that brand since, even though I originally gave it a positive review in the filament thread.