3D printed upgrades sustainably produced – made in Germany
Studying mechanical engineering, working a lot on energy technology and sustainability, and now producing “plastic” sounds stupid at first. But there are big differences between the material widely referred to as plastic. With the right choice of material and conscious handling, sustainable production is also possible, so that your upgrades can land on your tables with a clear conscience.
Resource
Not all plastics are the same! We use only PLA – polylactide – polylactic acid. This is a bioplastic produced from renewable and natural raw materials, such as corn. In this process, starch is extracted from the plants and converted into dextrose by adding enzymes, fermented into lactic acid by microorganisms and converted into polylactide, and finally long-linked molecular chains are produced by polymerization. Thus, our material has nothing to do with most plastic bags, which are mostly produced on the basis of fossil raw materials such as petroleum.
PLA is biodegradable in industrial composting plants with controlled temperature and humidity and with microorganisms within a few days, up to a few months. In order to use the prototypes and misprints even more effectively, we are planning in-house recycling in the future, i.e. melting down the leftovers and producing new filaments for new prototypes. We are currently still saving up for the necessary machine.
Filament
Cheap filaments usually contain a lot of harmful additives. These are usually already noticed by the unpleasant smell when printing. We pay attention to the selection of only high-quality filament produced in Europe and if possible even recycled PLA.
In addition, we use as many colors as possible as refill filaments on self-printed spools, because with a high filament consumption, you otherwise have a lot of spools left over. If the color selection does not allow it, we try to return the empty spools to the manufacturers so that they do not end up in the trash, but can be rewound with filament.
Design
With our exclusively own designs in the store, we avoid unnecessary material. Common platforms for 3D printed models usually offer beautiful designs for personal use, but have completely lost focus of the environmental aspect and are often heavy and clunky. Our upgrades are designed with love for you and also always trimmed for stability with weight and material optimization in the smallest detail.
Production
The printer is also important. With high-quality machines and the know-how to constantly retool and optimize them for our requirements, it is now possible for us to produce reliably and with little waste. The continuous upgrading and improvement of our machines is very important to us, but it has not been easy and has cost us one or two sleepless nights. We are proud of every new bee that moves in here and of course does its job exclusively with green electricity.
Packaging
We want to get rid of the zip bags and so of course no plastic goes into the packaging with us! Product boxes made of cardboard and filling material made of recycled paper. Only on the adhesive tape we are still working, this should be replaced in the future by a paper tape, perhaps even with logo. So only the gummy bear bag remains.
Your packages will be shipped with DHL and of course we have chosen the “Go Green” service, which guarantees a climate-friendly shipping.