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How 3Delft strives for sustainable solutions

 

Why focus on sustainability?

At 3Delft we want to contribute to the future. We look for interesting and innovative projects that improve the world around us, so that we might enjoy the fruits of those innovations further down the line. We believe that building a future full of opportunity and progress if grounded on a sustainable foundation, where we use our resources responsibly and sparingly, save energy where possible and take care of our own waste. The world is growing towards that sustainable future, and that’s why we want to start with that philosophy early on. Not only so that we can make our company future-proof, but also to show that we are always looking forward.

What can we do?

There are many ways to improve the sustainability of our company, and we ultimately strive for an ideal situation in which we waste nothing. So far these are the steps that we have taken:

  • We always strive to minimize the use of plastic we need need to achieve great quality prints.

    3D printing is a technology that is becoming ever more sophisticated, which means that the right printers can very effectively use little filament for good result. We never let our saving mind-set get in the way of quality, but we do take the time to ensure that no unnecessary plastic is used.

  • We collect and upcycle all the failed prints and remaining filament we have from the FDM printers.

    PLA is a widely used bioplastic for FDM printing, but it’s difficult to recycle (although it can be composted in the right conditions). We have looked around us and found a colleague at MTB3D who shares our ambitions for reusing the waste product. Together we collect all our waste PLA and melt it into large discs that can be used for decoration or production of new useful products.

  • We return our empty filament spools to our supplier.

    For FDM printing, we use big spools of filament that are made of black plastic that is very hard to recycle. By returning the spools to our supplier we ensure that we don’t have to throw them away with the regular plastic, and they are used again.

  • We hardly ever use heating in our office and always turn off all appliances that are not operational.

    With several printers running, our office is never more than chilly, but that’s nothing that a sweater can’t fix. We save energy by turning off the radiator and turning off all lights and appliances whenever we’re not in the office, which means saving a lot of energy when working from home.