ekocycle cube by will.i.am + coca-cola 3D prints with recycled plastic bottles
all images courtesy of 3D systems
will.i.am, musician, entertainer and chief creative officer of 3Dsystems, has collaborated with coca-cola to create the ekocycle cube 3D printer, a device which promotes sustainability and environmental responsibility by printing with filaments made from post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. each ekocycle cartridge is made in part from recycled 20oz plastic containers, and are available in a color palette of red, black, white and natural. one capsule turns the equivalent of 3 used bottles into a wearable fashion item, music accessory, iPhone case or desktop décor. the device will be available to purchase at cubify.
the ekocycle cube 3D printer
video courtesy of 3D systems
will.i.am describes that the goal of ekocycle is to ‘partner with the most influential brands around the world and use technology, art, style and inspiration to change an entire culture. we will make it cool to recycle, and we will make it cool to make products using recycled materials. this is the beginning of a more sustainable 3d-printed lifestyle. waste is only waste if we waste it.’
the device prints with filaments made from post-consumer recycled plastic bottles
one ekocycle cartridge is able to turn the equivalent of 3 used bottles into a wearable accessory
the moisture-lock cartridges ensure maximum shelf life and waste-free material usage
the ekocycle cube features a color touchscreen with an intuitive user interface
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I believe its easyer, more sustainable and intelligent to RE USE than to Re Cycle…… Can you incoroporate this invention made out of PET Bottles named below on your blog. Saves people for spending $1300+ on a Stand up paddle board and on the other hand… the cost of these ones is less than $ 100- Cheers. Much affordable than that EkoCycle CUBE PRinter.
This Fantastic invention that was created by a Professional Brazilian Surfer living in Hawaii and that keeps growing in popularity not only in Brazil… but in Peru, Australia, Argentina, Canada and counting is now available as a 7 step online video course. Check it out here http://EcoBoards.org
Cheers
“filament cartridge contains 25% of post consumer recycled materials” it says in the small print at the end. What this commercially inclined superficial pop star is saying is just a downright lie. This machine does NOT convert your own pet-bottles into print wire at all. Just arrogant eco-commercial nonsense, trying to make money on the naïve eco-fashion.
Is this the rock tumbler of the twenty-teens?
This is a great idea, but what is the embodied energy to turn the plastic bottles into cartridges, and are the cartridges made from the same recycled plastic?
Also so you have to pay to buy cartridges of recycled “junk”. Wouldn’t it be better to create something that turned the bottles into the cartridges and then prints them all in one package. This way it is free for the end user and creates a platform for people to actually want to be involved. This project, as cool as it is, will not make it into the lives and psyche of society because there is an extended cost on top of buying the printer, and to add to this, will.i.am and Coke have not put a compelling vision forward as to advantageous things that can be created. One can only print so many little plastic guitar picks and “wearable accessories” that are useful before they start being thrown away as junk and it defeats the original purpose and intention. It seems they have just jumped on the bandwagon of 3D printing instead of using their positions of influence to create something truly groundbreaking. I would not go out to buy one of these because all I can see is the extra cost required to make it a “cool thing” to do, and I cannot see the advantage of the printer apart from the fact it includes recycled plastic, and that it can print as any other 3D printer does. A “colour touch screen with intuitive technology” should be expected not put forward as a selling point for something that seems to be trying to solve a bigger problem.
I think this is where so many of these “cool ideas” fail, in that they are only cool in their own right but they do not get to the heart of the matter as to why people would buy them. They breach fad status, but never reach “must have” status. It looks cool and is great as a present and as something to talk about to your friends over coffee, but how often would you really use it after the first ten times.
Perhaps the application of the unit should be more geared towards commercial use and businesses where companies use this to create new products, then Coke could partner with these companies and create long term sustainable recycling of bottles.
I really think they have missed the mark and just managed to create a cool story for the interwebs. I sincerely hope I am proven wrong and this does take off, but I think they are only about 50% of the way there in terms of end users latching onto the idea.
Please. Just recycle. Why take something recyclable and make crappy junk instead?
Very interesting!.
But the company is able to make a machine that was using plastic bottles or bags of supermarket purchasing directly from objects, that company would be selling your product, as users would not have to buy supplies to feed the machine and incidentally, would recycle.
I have no money to try the project, but would be happy to collaborate on the design or the idea of it.
The idea would be something like a destroyer of documents, convirtiese those plastic waste into strips, and later feed the 3D machine.
And according to the color of the plastic, so would the object.