3D Printing Spool Recycling Program

We are excited to share the 3D Universe Terrafilum Spool Recycling Program to help do our part in making a difference and making sure we are good stewards of the planet!

Returning spools to us is an effort to allow 3D printing spools to not end up in your area's landfills and in turn, be refilled with our quality 3D printer filament, which Terrafilum produces at their manufacturing facility.

Why is your participation in this program vital? Consider this: the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewal Energy Laboratory reported that there are approximately 44 million pounds of plastic waste in the U.S. In 2019 statistics, of the plastic waste that was generated in the U.S. that year, about 5 percent was recycled while 86% was deposited in our landfills, and the remainder was incinerated.

Sending your spools back to Terrafilum provides you with an opportunity to reduce the amount of waste in your area's landfills and explore using sustainable quality filaments for your 3D printing needs.

If you would like to join us in our quest to make sure that we reuse and recycle as much as possible when 3D printing, please feel free to send us your empty spools of any kind, from any brand of 3D printing filaments, and we will reuse them!

How the Spool Recycling Progam Works

What do you do with your empty filament spools?

Terrafilum has a few different options for you to choose from with their spool recycling program!

Option 1: Purchase 3D Universe Terrafilum and Auto Enroll
If you are a current customer, please save your shipping box

• Place your empty spools back in the box
• Notify Terrafilum when you are done
• Email Terrafilum when you have more than 10 spools
• Terrafilum will send you a return shipping label.

Option 2: Send in Your Empty Spools from Other Brands
If you have spools from other brands, you are welcome to send those in too!

If you have 15 or more spools
• Place your empty spools in a box
• Get box dimensions and weight
• Please contact them via email at support@terrafilum.com or by phone at 815-526-3248 and they will help arrange a shipment to get them to Terrafilum®.

If you have less than 15 spools
• Place your empty spools in a box
• Get box dimensions and weight
• Ship directly to Terrafilum

Send your empty spools to:
3D Universe Terrafilum Spool Recycling Program:
740 Industrial Drive.
Suite D
Cary, IL 60013

Hold a Community Spool Drive

Want to make a bigger impact on the environment? Consider holding a community spool drive at your school, business, maker space, or library by setting up a drop box for a few weeks! Invite everyone with empty spools to swing by and bring their collection in to donate and ship back to Terrafilum.

Last year, MakerForce and Portland 3D Printer Lab (PDX3DP), a 2000+ members group that communicates across Meetup, Facebook, and the Discord communities as well as in person, held the first spool drive for the Terrafilum spool recycling program. In 4 hours they collected nearly 500 empty spools to send in, with one member bringing in 200 spools all on his own. A couple of people brought their children along and taught them about circular economy and recycling.

They scavenged a pallet and packed up the 500 spools and then shipped them off to Terrafilum to be reused and kept from ending up in a landfill!

You can read more about this spool drive here on our blog here and learn more about these incredible makers and how they are making a difference in the world.

What Happens Once You Send in Your Spools for the Spool Recycling Program?

So what happens now?

We asked Chris Jackson at Terrafilum to share the steps he goes through once he receives recycled spools from those that send them in to be reused.

Chris shares, “We receive materials from all over the country in a variety of packaging. We can even accept in bulk when palletized! Once we receive the empty spools, we separate them all by size and type.“

“We then take the time to sort the spools and stage them for an initial inspection and surface cleaning. We remove labels and then sanitize the spools with an industrial cleaner,” shares Chris.

“We follow that by packaging the empty spools by type and size and storing them for re-use,” explains Chris. “When we produce materials, we try to make each batch utilize the same type of spool during production,” he adds.

“We produce the filament onto the spools and send it out for re-use,” Chris shares. “As long as we keep the chain moving, the spools can be used again and again!“

Purchase Environmentally Friendly Filaments from 3D Universe

3D Universe is very excited to have developed our partnership with Terrafilum Engineered Filaments! Terrafilum was started with one idea in mind: to develop and provide 3D printer users with the highest-quality, eco-friendly 3D printing filament solutions on the market. Together, we set out to exceed all our customers' 3D printing needs. We have accomplished that goal, and we do it right here in America!

If you are also interested in supporting a brand of filaments that focuses on environmentally friendly materials, please check out our 3D Universe Terrafilum materials in the link below!