Reducing 3D printing waste is one of the biggest sustainability challenges facing makers and manufacturers today. From failed prints to support material and colour-change purges, discarded plastic builds up quickly, with estimates suggesting approximately 33% of all 3D prints ends up as waste.
While companies like Filamentive offer recycled filament and PLA recycling schemes to make a difference at scale, many 3D printing operators are also asking: can I recycle my own 3D print waste at home into new filament?
A recent video by YouTube creator, TheNextLayer, dives deep into this very question. After nearly a year of effort, trial and error, thousands of pounds spent, and many frustrating setbacks, he finally succeeded in making recycled filament by recycling 3D print waste.
This post breaks down the journey, lessons learned, and what it means for the future of 3D printing waste recycling—especially here in the UK.
Closing the Loop in Desktop 3D Printing
The idea is simple in theory: take old PLA prints, supports, and offcuts—grind them down, dry them, extrude them, and re-spool the result into usable filament. In practice, it’s far more complicated. The Next Layer’s video series documents the long and winding road to achieving recycled 3D print filament good enough to run on a standard 0.4 mm nozzle.
This wasn’t just a proof-of-concept with low-grade output. The finished spools were dimensionally accurate and printed cleanly—even with some visible dust or micro-debris. For those committed to reducing waste and embracing circular 3D printing, this is a landmark achievement.
Necessary Equipment to Recycle 3D Print Waste into Filament
Plastic shredder: Breaks down failed prints, purge lines and support material into manageable fragments. A popular choice is the Precious Plastic Shredder – TheNextLayer’s case used version 2.1 of the design, upgraded the sieve size from 8 mm to 5 mm and added a CPAP fan to reduce overheating.
Dryer: Removes moisture that causes poor extrusion. Conventional dryers work, but TheNextLayer found that microwave drying in controlled bursts was more effective.
Extruder: Reprocesses dry fragments into a continuous strand. He used the Artme desktop extruder with custom magnets on the agitator to catch metal shavings.
Winder and pelletiser: Wind the filament onto spools and convert unusable strands into pellets for re‑extrusion.
DIY Filament Making vs. Filamentive’s PLA Recycle Scheme
| DIY Recycling | Filamentive Solution | |
| Additional Cost | Thousands of pounds for shredder, dryer, extruder | Zero – we supply the box and handle recycling once min. spend achieved. |
| Time & Skills | High skill. Trial and error; risk of contamination and failure | None. Simply fill the supplied recycling box and we’ll pick it up |
| Result | 100% recycled filament in theory; variable quality and virgin material likely needed after multiple cycles | 100% free PLA waste recycling + supply of PLA and PETg made from high percentage recycled material |
What This Means for Sustainability in 3D Printing
At Filamentive, we’ve always believed the future of 3D printing must be circular. We’re committed to sustainability: creating value from waste, extending material life and reducing plastic pollution. DIY projects prove that closed loop recycling is possible, but they also illustrate the barriers most companies face regarding time, cost and skill.
That’s why we created the UK’s first PLA recycling scheme, offering customers 100 % landfill diversion without the need to buy or operate complex equipment like shredders or extruders. When you combine this with our range of recycled PLA and PETg filaments, you get a complete loop: use sustainable materials, recycle your waste through us and keep printing—guilt free.