Recycled and sustainable filaments are produced from recovered materials (industrial waste, post-consumer plastics, production waste from the filament itself) or from compostable biopolymers. They are the choice for those who want to 3D print while reducing environmental impact, without compromising performance and reliability.
When to use a recycled filament
- Internal prototyping: unseen parts, fixtures, supports, internal company use objects.
- Education and maker spaces: high-volume daily printing.
- Models and disposable parts: where appearance and perfection are not critical.
- Companies with ESG goals: to demonstrate sustainable commitment and reduce the additive manufacturing footprint.
- Public sector: tenders and entities requiring percentages of recycled material.
Technical features
- Recycled PLA: biodegradable in industrial composting, from renewable raw material.
- Recycled PETG (rPETG): from post-consumer bottles and packaging, performance close to virgin PETG.
- Recreated ABS-E: from filament production waste, excellent quality/price ratio.
- Recycled carbon fiber: filaments reinforced with rCF fibers from aerospace and automotive waste.
- Color variability: recycled materials have slightly variable shades between batches — this is the natural consequence of recovery.
Brands on Strato3D
RE- line by Sakata3D (RE-ABS-E, RE-PET-G), Fiberon PETG-rCF08 by Polymaker with recycled carbon fiber, and other sustainable references.
Frequently asked questions
Is the performance worse? No, well-recycled materials have 90-95% performance compared to virgin material. The difference is imperceptible for most uses.
Are they biodegradable? Only PLA. Recycled PETG and ABS are "circular" (recovered and reprocessed) but not biodegradable.
Is it cheaper? Usually yes, 10-30% less than virgin material.
Can I recycle my print waste? Yes, there are domestic granulators and extruders (e.g., Polymaker PolyForge, 3devo) to close the loop.