Evaluation of the Potential of Large-Scale 3D Printing to Promote a Circular Economy of PET Plastic Bottles: Comparison Between European and North American

Conference paper

Catalina Suescun Gonzalez*, Aditi Basdeo, Alessia Romani, Fabio A. Cruz Sanchez, Cécile Nouvel, Hakim Boudaoud, Joshua M. Pearce
Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering, Holger Kohl, Günther Seliger, Franz Dietrich, Giampaolo Campana, Safe and Sustainable Value Creation by Design. GCSM 2025, Springer, Cham, 2026 May, pp. 524–533

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-21157-6_58

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APA Click to copy
Gonzalez*, C. S., Basdeo, A., Romani, A., Sanchez, F. A. C., Nouvel, C., Boudaoud, H., & Pearce, J. M. (2026). Evaluation of the Potential of Large-Scale 3D Printing to Promote a Circular Economy of PET Plastic Bottles: Comparison Between European and North American. In H. Kohl, G. Seliger, F. Dietrich, & G. Campana (Eds.), Safe and Sustainable Value Creation by Design. GCSM 2025 (pp. 524–533). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-21157-6_58

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Gonzalez*, Catalina Suescun, Aditi Basdeo, Alessia Romani, Fabio A. Cruz Sanchez, Cécile Nouvel, Hakim Boudaoud, and Joshua M. Pearce. “Evaluation of the Potential of Large-Scale 3D Printing to Promote a Circular Economy of PET Plastic Bottles: Comparison Between European and North American.” In Safe and Sustainable Value Creation by Design. GCSM 2025, edited by Holger Kohl, Günther Seliger, Franz Dietrich, and Giampaolo Campana, 524–533. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Cham, 2026.

MLA Click to copy
Gonzalez*, Catalina Suescun, et al. “Evaluation of the Potential of Large-Scale 3D Printing to Promote a Circular Economy of PET Plastic Bottles: Comparison Between European and North American.” Safe and Sustainable Value Creation by Design. GCSM 2025, edited by Holger Kohl et al., Springer, Cham, 2026, pp. 524–33, doi:10.1007/978-3-032-21157-6_58.

BibTeX Click to copy

@inproceedings{catalina2026a,
  title = {Evaluation of the Potential of Large-Scale 3D Printing to Promote a Circular Economy of PET Plastic Bottles: Comparison Between European and North American},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  pages = {524–533},
  publisher = {Springer, Cham},
  series = {Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering},
  doi = {10.1007/978-3-032-21157-6_58},
  author = {Gonzalez*, Catalina Suescun and Basdeo, Aditi and Romani, Alessia and Sanchez, Fabio A. Cruz and Nouvel, Cécile and Boudaoud, Hakim and Pearce, Joshua M.},
  editor = {Kohl, Holger and Seliger, Günther and Dietrich, Franz and Campana, Giampaolo},
  booktitle = {Safe and Sustainable Value Creation by Design. GCSM 2025},
  month_numeric = {5}
}

Abstract

The increasing accumulation of plastic waste has intensified the urgency for sustainable recycling solutions. Among these, distributed recycling for additive manufacturing (DRAM) has emerged as a promising approach to revalorize post-consumer plastic waste in a closed loop. This study evaluates the potential of the DRAM model in the European and North American contexts, specifically for the recycling of post-consumer plastic bottles composed of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for the body and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) for the cap, without prior material separation. More precisely, the research analyzes the efficiency and requirements to develop a plastic circular loop in France and Canada. A methodology was developed to assess the collection, transformation, and 3D printing of the recycled bottles, incorporating modifications to enhance 3D printer performance and material processing. Functional objects were 3D printed to assess practical applications, producing furniture and decorative products. The findings indicate that, while DRAM can be adapted to different regional contexts, standardized material preprocessing, optimized 3D printing extrusion parameters and enhanced flow monitoring are critical to improving reproducibility. This study contributes to advancing circular economy practices, providing a scalable and sustainable strategy for plastic waste valorization through additive manufacturing. 1

Keywords

Distributed Recycling for Additive Manufacturing (DRAM) // closed-loop recycling // Fused Granular Fabrication (FGF) // Fused Particle Fabrication (FPF) // Material Extrusion (MEX)

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📑 Full text (publisher version) 2

Suescun Gonzales, C., Basdeo, A., Romani, A., Cruz Sanchez, F.A., Nouvel, C., Boudaoud, H., and Pearce, J.M. 2026. Evaluation of the Potential of Large-Scale 3D Printing to Promote a Circular Economy of PET Plastic Bottles: Comparison Between European and North American. In: Kohl, H., Seliger, G., Franz, D., and Campana, G. (Eds). Safe and Sustainable Value Creation by Design. GCSM 2025, pp. 524-533. DOI: DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-21157-6_58 ↩
Suescun Gonzales, C., Basdeo, A., Romani, A., Cruz Sanchez, F.A., Nouvel, C., Boudaoud, H., and Pearce, J.M. 2026. Evaluation of the Potential of Large-Scale 3D Printing to Promote a Circular Economy of PET Plastic Bottles: Comparison Between European and North American. In: Kohl, H., Seliger, G., Franz, D., and Campana, G. (Eds). Safe and Sustainable Value Creation by Design. GCSM 2025, pp. 524-533. DOI: DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-21157-6_58 ↩