Used coffee capsules can be used as raw materials for the production of plastics for 3D printers. This was reported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation.
Espresso machines with coffee loaded in disposable pods are a popular way to prepare this beverage. In the capsule, the coffee is ground, which makes the preparation quieter, and at the same time the grains do not exhale in a closed container. At the same time, according to Brazilian experts, a cup of coffee with a disposable capsule is 14 times more harmful to the environment than the same cup prepared using a coffee grinder and reusable filter.
“We produced new conductive and non-conductive filaments from waste polylactide plastic from used coffee machine capsules. “These threads have many applications, including the creation of conductive machine parts and sensors,” said Bruno Janegitz, one of the study’s authors.
Similar polymer filaments are used in 3D printers to create plastic parts layer by layer. “We obtain a non-conductive material by simply washing and drying the capsules and then hot extrusion of the material. To obtain a conductive material, we add carbon black inside before heating and extrusion. The extruded material is then cooled and wound onto a spool,” the authors write.
The scientists hope their technology will help prevent large numbers of used capsules from ending up in landfills.
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