For all its promise of unleashed creativity, 3D printing raises one major issue of sustainability. The technology uses, and creates objects out of, unrecyclable plastic filament wrapped around plastic spools. Ingenious minds are beginning to come up with diverse solutions to remedy the problem, but none is as organic as Marina Ceccolini’s. Her AgriDust is made from blended food waste like coffee grounds, peanut shells and orange peels, bound together by a 3D-printing friendly, potato starch-based, binder. Marina reasons that most 3D-printed objects are prototypes with a short shelf-life anyway. What better upcycling for them, once they have served their purpose, than putting them in the compost bin.
3D printing with food waste provides a truly sustainable alternative to plastic
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