Recycled Materials

Printing Temperature (˚C)

Pros

Cons

Ref

Recycled

PLA

160 - 220

Biodegradable, non-toxic; easy to deal with 3D printing filament; high printing speeds; fewer shrinkage issues; no heated print bed necessary; no effect on T_g after number of extrusion cycles.

Slow cooling down; susceptible to degradation during its use, the melting, and recycling process; not recycled on a large scale.

[86] [87] [88] [89] [91] [92] [184]

Recycled

ABS

215 - 250

Heat resistance; slightly flexible; relatively unchanged of flow rate with increasing extrusion temperature; ideal for mechanical parts; easy to recycle.

Non-biodegradable, toxic material; heated print bed necessary; shrinkage and warping issues during printing; recycled with specific program.

[86] [96] [97]

Recycled

PET

212 - 235

Odorless, fairly hard, lightweight; no heated print bed necessary; availability of PET-G filaments (biocompatible, flexible, recyclable); availability of recycled resources.

High melting temperature, water absorption, lower crystallinity; non-uniform diameter for filaments; using only for engineering designs; more brittle failure than PLA.

[99] [100] [101] [102]

Recycled

HDPE

180 - 190

Lightweight, flexible, non-water absorption, chemical resistance; easy to dye and mold; availability of recycled resources; easy to recycle; feed consistently into 3D printer with a constant rate of extrusion.

Heated print bed necessary; high-temperature nozzle; poor adhesion; shrinkage/warping issues; stress-induced during printing; polymer-modified necessary.

[20] [103] [185]

Recycled

PP

210 - 230

Good chemical, fatigue, environment stress crack resistance; flexible; unchanged of flexural and impact strength after repeated thermal reprocessing.

Low-temperature resistance; sensitive to UV rays; warping and poor layer adhesion; significant diameter variation, elliptical shape for filaments.

[106] [107] [108] [109]

Recycled

PS or HIPS

190 - 210

Availability of PS foam for filaments; availability of HIPS for filaments (similar to ABS, high impact strength, biodegradable, easy to fabricate); low viscosity for recycled PS rather than HIPS; same viscosity for recycled and virgin PS filaments.

Difficult to recycle; not recycle locally; low recycling rate; heated print bed necessary for HIPS; a more brittle tendency for recycled PS rather than HIPS.

[78] [110] [111] [112] [113]