Design and Development of a Modular 3D-Printed Extruder for Recycled PET Filament Production
Keywords:
PET recycling, 3D printing, modular extruder, additive manufacturing
Abstract
This paper presents the design, fabrication, and functional validation of a low-cost, modular extruder system capable of converting manually cut PET-bottle strips into 3D-printing filament. The extruder is composed of 3D-printed structural elements, a metal heating barrel, a digital thermostat with an ON/OFF control, and a direct-drive 12 V DC motor for material feeding. The heating profile was stabilized at 230 °C to ensure proper melting and extrusion. The resulting system successfully produced filament of consistent diameter, suitable for non-loadbearing applications. This work demonstrates the feasibility of decentralized, smallscale PET recycling using accessible components and open-source design principles, contributing to circular-economy practices in the context of Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM).
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References
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[2]. Kreiger M. A., Pearce J. M., Environmental Life Cycle Analysis of Distributed 3D Printing and Conventional Manufacturing of Polymer Products, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 1(12), p. 1511-1519, 2013.
[3]. Woern A. L., Pearce J. M., Distributed Manufacturing of Flexible Products: Technical Feasibility and Economic Viability, Technologies, 5(4), 71, 2017.
[4]. Cruz Sanchez F. A., Boudaoud H., Hoppe S., Camargo M., Polymer recycling in an open source additive manufacturing context: mechanical issues, Additive Manufacturing, 17, p. 87-105, 2017.
[5]. Pearce J. M., Building Research Equipment with Free, Open Source Hardware. Science, 337(6100), p. 1303-1304, 2012.
[6]. Zhang C., et al., Open Source 3D Printable Optics Equipment, PLoS ONE, 8(3), 2013.
[7]. Lee D., et al., Thermal and Mechanical Degradation of Recycled Polylactic Acid Filaments for Three Dimensional Printing Applications, Polymers, 14(24), 2022.
[8]. Chopade S., et al., Conversion of Waste PET Bottles into 3D Printing Filament: A Sustainable Approach, Journal of Neonatal Surgery, 14(31s), p. 732-741, 2025.
[9]. Van de Voorde B., et al., Effect of extrusion and fused filament fabrication processing parameters of recycled poly(ethylene terephthalate) on the crystallinity and mechanical properties, Additive Manufacturing, 50, 102518, 2022.
[10]. Pepek E. S., Hanan J. C., 3D Printing with Recycled PET as a Sustainable Thermoplastic Alternative: Comparing Printed and Filament Material Properties, Polymer Plastics Technology and Materials, p. 1-15, 2025.
[11]. Nguyen P. Q. K., et al., Influences of printing parameters on mechanical properties of recycled PET and PETG using fused granular fabrication technique, Polymer Testing, 132, 108390, 2024.
[12]. Robbika F., et al., Recycled PET Plastics Filament: Characteristics and Cost Opportunity, Semesta Teknika, 27(2), p. 148-158, 2024.
[13]. Seibert M., et al., Manufacturing of a PET filament from recycled material for material extrusion (MEX), Recycling, 7(5), 69, 2022.
[14]. Morales Mendez G., et al., Prototype Pultrusion of Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate Plastic Bottles into Filament for 3D Eco Printing: Education for a Sustainable Development Project, Sustainability, 16(19), 8347, 2024.
[15]. Voorde B. van de, et al., The effect of carbon fiber content on physico-mechanical properties of recycled polyethylene terephthalate composites additively manufactured with fused filament fabrication, Additive Manufacturing, 60, 103246, p. 583-600, 2022.
[16]. Woern A. L., et al., RepRapable Recyclebot: Open source 3 D printable extruder for converting plastic to 3 D printing filament, HardwareX, 4, e00026, 2018.
[17]. Moretti M., Rossi A., Closed Loop Filament Feed Control in Fused Filament Fabrication, 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, 10(3), p. 500-513, 2023.
[18]. Rashwan O., et al., Extrusion and characterization of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) filaments compounded with chain extender and impact modifiers for material extrusion additive manufacturing, Scientific Reports, 13, 16041, 2023.
[19]. Chien Y.-C., et al., Closed Loop Recycling of 3D Printed Wood–PLA Composite Parts: Effects on Mechanical and Structural Properties via Fused Filament Fabrication, Polymers, 16(21), 3002, 2024.
Published
2025-12-15
How to Cite
1.
BEREANDĂ V, MARIN M, MARIN F-B. Design and Development of a Modular 3D-Printed Extruder for Recycled PET Filament Production. The Annals of “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati. Fascicle IX, Metallurgy and Materials Science [Internet]. 15Dec.2025 [cited 18Dec.2025];48(4):16-1. Available from: https://gup.ugal.ro/ugaljournals/index.php/mms/article/view/9527
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