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Justification of the Selection and Experimental Study of a Shredder for Grinding PETG Plastic Waste Generated During 3D Printing
Original title: Обґрунтування Вибору Та Експериментальне Дослідження Шредера Для Подрібнення Відходів Petg-пластику, Що Утворюються Під Час 3d-друку
Summary
Researchers designed a small shredding machine that breaks down leftover PETG plastic (a common 3D-printing material) into tiny, uniform pieces that can be melted down and reused to print new objects, instead of being thrown away. This matters because it offers a practical way to recycle plastic waste locally, cutting down on landfill trash and the resources needed to make new plastic—though the study focused on the recycling equipment itself, not on health effects like microplastic exposure.
The article presents the results of a study of the shredding process of PETG plastic waste generated during FDM 3D printing with the aim of its further reuse as secondary raw material for 3D printers equipped with a screw extruder. The relevance of the research is driven by the need to reduce the volume of polymer waste, improve the efficiency of local recycling, and establish a closed-loop technological cycle in additive manufacturing. As the object of the study, PETG plastic waste of complex morphology was selected. Such waste is characterized by strip-like, contour, and elastic elements, which complicate its direct feeding into extrusion equipment and require preliminary mechanical preparation. For this purpose, a single-shaft mini-shredder was used, whose design ensures low-speed operation, high torque, and stable destruction of the polymer material without critical overheating or entanglement on the working components. The research consistently describes the loading of waste into the receiving hopper, shredding by the knife mechanism, and the accumulation of the processed material in the collection container. It was shown that the selected shredding scheme provides stable formation of fine- and medium-sized particles suitable for further processing. After shredding, sieve analysis was carried out, and as a result, the fraction meeting the requirements for feedstock for a screw extruder of a 3D printer was separated. Particles that did not meet the specified size criteria were returned for repeated shredding, which made it possible to implement a closed cycle for the preparation of secondary material. The obtained results confirm the feasibility of using a single-shaft shredder for preparing PETG waste for re-extrusion and demonstrate the practical potential of applying this approach in polymer recycling technologies for additive manufacturing.