The accumulation of non-recyclable garbage is a serious economic and socio-environmental problem throughout planet Earth. Therefore, it is necessary to implement creative solutions to help preserve the environment, avoiding the excessive accumulation of waste.
The discovery by scientists of a method for recycle coffee capsules in raw material for 3D printers was a huge advance. Currently, there is an intense disposal of these capsules in the environment, with no viable way of recycling them into other raw materials.
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The future of the recycling process
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A serious environmental problem
The increasing consumption of coffee capsules has worried environmentalists because, so far, it is a product with a low recycling rate. This is due to its disposable nature and its aluminum and plastic composition, which takes a long time to degrade, resulting in the accumulation of these materials in landfills.
However, this reality may change with the recent discovery made by researchers from UFSCar, which can transform the capsules into filaments for 3D printing. This creates an alternative to the waste recycling problem, encouraging the economy to circulate in the waste reuse process from one industry to another.
The production method
The possibility of using coffee capsules as raw material for the production of filaments is due to the presence of Polylactic Acid Polymers (PLA) in their composition. Filaments can be divided into two types: conducting and non-conducting. They have several applications, including making conductive parts for machines and sensors.
Thus, the production method varies depending on the type of tape produced. The non-conductive ones are the simplest, requiring only washing and drying of the capsules followed by a high temperature heat treatment process (extrusion).
For conductive materials, in addition to washing and drying the material, before heat treatment, carbon black is added. This compound is produced from the incomplete combustion of coal, and then the process continues with the extrusion and molding of the material into filaments.
