Ford and HP are recycling 3D printer waste into truck parts

Joe White

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Why it matters: Ford and HP have joined forces to create a more sustainable production line for the F-250 truck. The companies have figured out that 3D printer waste, including plastic and powder, can be recycled to produce injection molded vehicle parts for the F-250 that are lighter, cheaper, more resistant to chemicals, and above all, more sustainable.

It’s a great example of two companies from markedly different industries working together to become more sustainable. Ford and HP are using waste plastic and powder from 3D printers to create injection-molded fuel-line clips for the Super Duty F-250 truck. Dental company SmileDirectClub, which has a small army of 3D printers producing dental aligners, is also contributing to the green production line.

Waste from the printers is apparently passed on to a couple of further companies—Lavergne and ARaymond—who turn the recycled matter into fuel clips.

Impressively, the recycled fuel clips created from 3D printer waste are 7% lighter and cost 10% less according to Ford, and more resistant to chemicals and moisture than their non-recycled predecessors.

Debbie Mielewski, a technical fellow at Ford, said, “Many companies are finding great uses for 3D printing technologies, but together with HP, we're the first to find a high-value application for waste powder that likely would have gone to landfill, transforming it into functional and durable auto parts.” The research team at Ford has identified 10 other existing vehicles that could benefit from this use of material and are migrating it to future models.

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"Impressively, the recycled fuel clips created from 3D printer waste are 7% lighter and cost 10% less according to Ford, and more resistant to chemicals and moisture than their non-recycled predecessors."

That last part doesn't make sense unless Ford was using really cheap materials for those parts to begin with.
 
"Impressively, the recycled fuel clips created from 3D printer waste are 7% lighter and cost 10% less according to Ford, and more resistant to chemicals and moisture than their non-recycled predecessors."

That last part doesn't make sense unless Ford was using really cheap materials for those parts to begin with.
Everything sound a lot better in the infomercials. Watch the latest episode of Last Week Tonight to see what really happens to "recycled" things. It mostly ends up in landfills on the other side of the world, or in your food after your food animals digests it.
 
"Impressively, the recycled fuel clips created from 3D printer waste are 7% lighter and cost 10% less according to Ford, and more resistant to chemicals and moisture than their non-recycled predecessors."

That last part doesn't make sense unless Ford was using really cheap materials for those parts to begin with.
We do find ways to improve ourselves as well as our surroundings.
And we have been doing it since.........My Mother-in-Law was born.
 
Amazing achievement. I hope Ford plans (better not) to sell 5 trillions of trucks just in US this year because there is plenty of waste to produce lighter cheaper fuel caps... They will probably even sell those as souvenirs. :picardfacepalm:

It's so daft to even brag about this. Like total PR brain fart moment. Did anyone at Ford thought about recycling those caps? If those are more resistant to chemicals and corrosive effect of fuels than previous designs. How they intend to recycle them, because aluminium or steel is very easy. High density (contaminated) plastics not so much.
 
So they're recycling material for the fuel clips... on these gigantic 2.5-ton gas-hog dinosaurs. Hurray!
I was thinking something along the lines of 5000 lbs truck, 4 oz of recycled plastics, planet saved.
 
I was thinking something along the lines of 5000 lbs truck, 4 oz of recycled plastics, planet saved.

Couple that with Apple not including chargers with phones and we've now had 3 companies, unrelated, solve waste issues on a global scale!

 
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