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To the last grain of AM powder Marketing and Content

by Environment

In order to fulfill the promise of additive manufacturing of eliminating material waste, the AM industry needs to stop wasting materials. In metal powder bed 3D printing this issue has become more relevant as the technology targets larger production batches. And a viable solution to end material waste now exists: it starts with powder rejuvenation. 6K Additive’s UniMelt microwave plasma technology is promising recycled metal powders for PBF with quality even superior to traditionally atomized materials from ingots. Reducing metal powder waste emerged as a key demand during 3dpbm’s AM Focus on Sustainability so we reached out to 6K’s Chairman and CEO, Aaron Bent, Ph.D. to learn how the Boston-based company is addressing this issue.

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AMGTA commissions research project on the sustainability of metal AM Sustainability

by Environment

The Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association (AMGTA), a global trade group created to promote green benefits of additive manufacturing (AM), announced today that it had selected Jeremy Faludi, Ph.D., a leading researcher of sustainable engineering, to oversee its first commissioned university research project, a literature-based systematic review on the environmental sustainability of metal AM.

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Cornwall-based student develops sustainable buttons using 3D printing Consumer Products

by Environment

Buttons are ubiquitous, and most won’t think twice about the small garment essentials. But today, most buttons are made from plastic and most are not recycled, which means that they to pose an environmental challenge. Thankfully, there is a group that is thinking about how to make buttons and plastic clothing features more sustainable, and one solution lies with 3D printing and injection molding.

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Creative ways 3D printing is advancing sustainability Sustainability

by Environment

As we have seen and will continue to explore in our AM Focus this month, there are many facets to the topic of Sustainability within additive manufacturing. On the one hand, additive manufacturing opens up opportunities for more sustainable processes in many industries through the production of design-optimized and lightweight parts. Due to its additive nature, the technology also tends to result in minimal material waste. On the other hand, it is important to consider how manufacturing operations within AM have an ecological impact and how they can be improved. Beyond the industrial side of AM, there are also many ways in which 3D printing and sustainability have become linked, in large part thanks to the ingenuity of visionaries who understand the need for ecological solutions in all parts of our lives.