Autonomous portable larger-scale additive manufacturing technology for recycled plastics and standard thermoplastics (Lava3D)

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Plastics are considered as one of the most growing world-wide problems to the environment, and as a result, the need for recycling plastic is gaining speed in the global industry. According to Market Data Forecast, as of 2020, the market industry of recycled plastic is valued at 50.01 Billion CAD, and it is estimated to reach 68.43 billion CAD by the year 2025. The high pollution associated with plastics, GHG emission, shortage of landfill areas, and disposal of utilized plastics in the water bodies, are serious threats to our ecosystem. Besides, the shortage of resources and requirements for new plastic materials is pushing the boundaries of conventional manufacturing technologies to use recycled plastics over virgin thermoplastics. Therefore, over a span of two years, the researchers at the University of Alberta aims to support the Canadian market with a speedy, faster, robust, automated, portable and affordable large-scale additive manufacturing technology to help protect the environment by using recycled plastics. The technology proposed will also be compatible to work with virgin material and multi-material 3D printing for strength-to-requirements to support resource-based Industry in Canada. The proposed faster rate of polymer AM process will also support the growing need for mass-production of PPE components during the pandemic e.g. personal protective respirators.