3D Printing with Recycled Mussels as Filament

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of 3D printing here at Hackster—many of the projects we feature just wouldn’t be possible without it. But, while it can be argued that 3D printing is more environmentally-friendly than traditional manufacturing, plastic is still generally used for filament and that in turn generates waste. To address that, a student from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has turned to mussel shells.

Joost Vette, an industrial design student at the school’s Delta Lab, was unhappy with the waste created in manufacturing and 3D printing. So, he set out to find an eco-friendly alternative to the plastic-based filament commonly used in 3D printing. He found that alternative in the form of the vast numbers of mussel shells that are discarded in the Dutch market.

Joost was able to come up with a recipe for turning those shells into usable 3D printer filament. First, the shells are dried in an oven, which burns off the remaining meat and makes the shells brittle. They can then be blended with beet sugar in a household blender to create a viscous paste. The paste is then ready for 3D printing, which Joost demonstrates on an Ultimaker 2 that has been equipped with a syringe-style extruder.

At this stage in Joost’s research, the print quality isn’t perfect. But, the mussel shell paste has a lot of potential. It’s recycled from a waste product, which makes it inexpensive and environmentally-responsible. And, the prints are water-soluble so the paste can be reused, and which also makes it especially useful as a support material for more conventional 3D printing filament.