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BigRep circular economy project
The four BigRep One machines currently in operation at the Thaersaal of Humboldt University.
BigRep has launched a 3D printed urban and insect habitat installation project which will use 100% recycled plastic materials.
Four BigRep One machines are currently in operation at the Thaersaal of Humboldt University creating the GENESIS Eco Screen, which will feature an embedded water and drainage system to facilitate plants and insects. The project is being led by BigRep’s NOWLAB innovation hub and Berlin-based artist Lindsay Lawson to showcase the potential of 3D printing as a sustainable means of manufacture. The public will have open access to watch the four printing system as the build is ongoing.
Measuring 4 x 4 metres, the GENESIS Eco Screen will be printed using BigRep PETG and BASF Innofil3D rPET, made of 100% recycled PET. PET bottles are being delivered to a collection point, where they are then cleaned and pre-processed, before then being pushed through the Dual Axel Shredder system from German company raw paradise. This machine processes the plastic into a printable raw material, which will be coiled on filament spoils ready to be used on the BigRep One machines.
The design of the GENESIS Eco Screen was carried out with generative algorithm tools, with data analysis of the sun exposure across the installation aiding with the optimisation in diameter of the printed branches. Upon completion, which is scheduled for some time this month, the GENESIS Eco Screen will be installed at the Fiction Forum exhibition centre, the site of a now demolished East Germany border control station that left a gap between East and West.
With this project, BigRep is hoping to demonstrate how advanced manufacturing technologies can be implemented to take advantage of recycled materials, local resources, and cooperation.
“Disruptive technologies such as 3D printing are key to solving some of the world’s biggest problems,” commented Daniel Büning, BigRep CIO and NOWLAB Managing Director. “We want to deliver ground-breaking innovation to maximise the potential of AM, thereby creating entirely new applications. With this project, we are introducing a new and truly sustainable manufacturing protocol to the manufacturing of polymer objects using multiple pre-used plastic materials. The GENESIS Eco Screen shows how society can develop a greener future – with circular economy solutions that are sustainable, local, modular and collaborative.”
