Overview

Over 12 million Tons of plastic go in the ocean each year. That’s equivalent to over 2 million Asian elephants (by weight). And Thailand is a top contributor to the problem. 3D printing is a fast-growing market that primarily utilizes virgin plastics. Full Circle Filament is a social enterprise that will reduce the plastic waste problem, by using it as a resource in 3D printing filament, while increasing the incomes of informal waste pickers. Full Circle Filament (FCF) is an international collaboration between academic, social enterprise, for-profit, and thought-leading innovators — working together to change the way we view and use resources. Plastic waste is a key contributor to the degradation of our waterways. We aim to reduce the volume of plastics that end up in nature while cutting the production of virgin plastic by the corresponding amount. In doing so, we'll improve the incomes of the informal recycling collectors who are the foundation of Southeast Asia’s recycling systems as we produce a high-quality 3D printing filament. As China cutoff waste plastic shipments on January 1, 2018, a serious problem became dire for the countries who were “solving” the problem by sending it away. We now need new solutions that integrate these resources in the manner of ecosystems. We know what we need to do and we have the benefit of urgency pressing us on. Full Circle Filament is here to bring 3D printing to the circular economy. The days of take-make-waste are over. Welcome to the Full Circle era. FCF has achieved technical proof-of-concept and is now fund-raising to bring our first product to market. If that’s of interest, please reach out to us: contact (at) fullcirclefilament.com