Star Trek’s replicators were not only able to produce any food or products our far-off descendants wanted, they were also able to make it from any kind of waste products. It was the ultimate recycling scenario, one that the new Ekocycle Cube 3D Printer hopes to emulate by using a new filament made in part from recycled plastic bottles.
The Ekocycle printer will be available from Cubify for $US1200 later this year, and will use filament cartridges that contain at least three recycled 600mL PET plastic bottles, but the material still retains the flexibility and durability of standard 3D printer filament.
Unfortunately, because Will.i.am is the Chief Creative Officer of 3DSystems, which has designed the printer, the recycled filament material will only be available in a “curated” colour palette of red, black, white and natural. Limiting, but it’s a safe assumption that other colours will eventually be made available.
But if you can’t wait, remember that Coca-Cola has already come up with a clever way to recycle its bottles that’s far more useful than yet another iPhone case. [3D Systems via designboom]
Pictures: designboom