Ford develops waste-free 3D printing of car parts

Like any production waste, 3D printing waste will create a lot of environmental problems in the future. To prevent this from happening, Ford and HP are working together to develop waste-free 3D printing of car parts. The time for reckless use of stocks is over. It’s time to get used to being careful with resources.

In its factories, Ford uses HP 3D printers to produce a range of small car parts that are not cost-effective to order industrial equipment for. Also, devices for workers are created on printers, which facilitate and speed up the production process. Such activity leaves behind waste in the form of unused powder and parts that, for some reason, were not assembled. To avoid throwing it all in the trash, Ford and HP have developed a chain of actions to recycle plastic.

The 3D waste from Ford factories, supplemented by 3D waste from SmileDirectClub, the largest dentistry company in the United States, is shipped to Lavergne, making polymer resins. Lavergne produces plastic injection molding pellets from 3D printing waste. These pellets are sent back to Ford, where they are made into new car parts.

In particular, Ford produces fuel hose clamps from recycled materials for Super Duty F-250 pickup trucks. According to the company, such parts have better chemical and moisture resistance than conventional parts and are also 7% lighter and cost 10% less. The proposed model for reusing raw materials intended for recycling will be extended to the manufacture of parts for other cars of the company. And the larger the process of waste-free production is, the more efficient and beneficial it will be for nature and humans.