Beer Holthuis has been looking for a more sustainable option to 3D printing than using plastic. Now the designer has created a 3D printer that prints paper pulp to build 3D objects, according to New Atlas.
Although Holthuis has not unveiled everything about the printer, the pulp is said to be mixed with a natural binding agent so the layers stick to one another as they are built up from the base. An electric motor moves the belt in order to push the plunger into the cylinder that contains the pulp. Then, the pulp is forced through a green tube at the bottom and then over to the print head.
The open printer is made from ply, and contains a print bed and extruder. The pulped paper can be made from household waste, giving it a more sustainable initiative than plastic 3D printers. The printed objects can then be recycled and perhaps even repulped.
Filed Under: 3D printing • additive manufacturing • stereolithography, Product design
