28 Apr Extrusion at school: 3 ideas for educators and students

We believe that school is the right place to start learning by experimenting with different materials and projects.

The Felfil system is a useful teaching tool: students can become more aware of environmental issues and the potential of new technologies.

3D printing and plastic extrusion processes make it possible to recycle everyday objects to create new ones; Thanks to learning by doing, students can learn more easily what characterizes the different materials and become more aware of environmental issues.

Felfil products have been designed to be accessible to everyone: even the youngest students can have fun thanks to workshops on recycling.

Here are three experiments that can be done in schools:

1.  Create your filament and… recycle it

To create a filament, you can start from both plastic waste and ready-to-use pellets. It is also possible to add dyes that allow you to customize the prints. If the printed object has defects or you no longer need it, you can recycle it, shredding it and repeating the extrusion process.

2. Create a filament with coffee

It is also possible to make filament with plastic and … coffee, just like we did!
Just use the basic recipe (300g of PLA and 15g of dried coffee powder) to get a colorful and fragrant filament just like coffee!
Felfil Evo allows you to experiment with extrusion with different organic materials, not only with coffee: also try the pumpkin filament or mussel shells filament.

Warning: it is not a filament suitable for food use.

3. Recycle bottle caps

HDPE is the material of which bottle caps are made and they are totally recyclable!
The first step is to collect and chop them inside the Felfil Shredder, then they will be inserted inside the extruder to create a new filament for the 3D printer.
To get a colored filament pay attention to the division of the colors of the caps. The experiment can also be done with bottles of detergent or with simple milk bottles.