3DomFuel, Inc. Delivers a 1-2 Punch to 3D-Fuel 3D Printing Products' End-of-Life Options

Fargo, ND, USA - Earth Day 2021 - In 2015, 3DomFuel, Inc., (3DomUSA at that time) announced the Eco-Spool™. That spool was made of more sustainable and bio-friendly materials to provide for better biodegradability than petroleum-based spools. Now, 3DomFuel, Inc., manufacturers of the 3D-Fuel brand of 3D printer filament, announced today that they will soon be utilizing the “Eco-Spool2™”, the first-ever enhanced landfill-biodegradable spool for all their 500g and 1kg spools in their US manufacturing facility. Plans are underway to use the same type of spools in their Ireland plant as well. 

This new “Eco-Spool2”, starts with a recycled HIPS (rHIPS or recycled High Impact PolyStyrene) that can be recycled again (and will be marked with the appropriate recycle symbol “6”). Recycling isn’t always an option for customers, so Eco-Spool was also designed for enhanced landfill biodegradation. Eco-Spool can be disposed of in a customer’s regular trash as it will biodegrade over the course of several years in a landfill. It does not require any special handling due to the newly acquired additive that enhances biodegradation after disposal in biologically active landfills. From start to finish, it is one of the “greenest” 3D printer spools available.

In addition, 3DomFuel has announced that they plan to introduce an enhanced landfill biodegradable line of 3D printer filament made with PLA that will also have this enhanced landfill biodegradation capability later this summer.  PLA has always been sustainable and compostable, but only in a commercial composting system. Now, users who have struggled with having to place their failed prints and scraps into the trash can soon relax and know that within just a few years, these former problems will be converted to valuable landfill biogas energy and inert humus. 

This enhanced biodegradation is being accomplished through an exclusive agreement between 3DomFuel, Inc. and Ecologic, LLC, makers of Eco-One®, which is a trusted technology for leading brands and manufacturers in the plastics industry. Today, Eco-One can be found in a wide variety of plastic products such as apparel, packaging, foam, footwear, medical sanitation essentials, sporting goods, and now 3D printing. 3DomFuel will have exclusive rights to use this additive in 3D Printing Spools and in a number of their PLA 3D filament products.

“Over 90% of plastics end up in landfills. With our new enhanced biodegradability products, we can eliminate the 100’s or 1000’s of years required to break them down.” 

The key is the 100% organic and non-starch based additive, Eco-One®, that enhances the biodegradation process through a series of chemical and biological processes when disposed of in a biologically active landfill.  

When placed in a biologically active landfill, the ingredients in Eco-One® allow for the formation of a coating (called “biofilm,”) on the surface of the plastic. The biofilm is made up of microbes which penetrate the plastic, while other ingredients work together to expand the molecular structure, in turn making room for microbes. The microbes then send out chemical signals (their way of communicating,) in order to attract additional microbes to the site. Once all of the microbes have been assembled, they collectively feast on the polymer chains, thus breaking down the chemical bonds of the plastic product at an accelerated rate.

Eco-One® enhances the biodegradation of 3D-Fuel Eco-Spool and PLA filaments in a biologically active landfill as demonstrated by third party testing of Eco-One® products using ASTM D5511 test method representing biologically active landfills.

3DomFuel, Inc. is thrilled with being the first to market with these products.  John Schneider, CEO, had this to say: “From the beginning, 3D-Fuel products have been intended to be more sustainable and we have continually looked for a way to manufacture 3D printing materials with a minimal impact to our environment. Finally, we have a way to produce products that truly are better for the environment with a range of end-of-life options as well as being easy to use and high-quality. We plan to soon have enhanced biodegradability as an option for all our products. We also encourage the entire 3D community to move in this same direction.”