Article

Basic Project Information

Feline van Vliet, Mariet Sauerwein

Innovation Hub Biobased 3D Printing

In Amsterdam, every person throws away an average of 86 kilos of organic waste (vegetable, fruit, and food scraps) per year. The ambition of this project is to develop 3D printing materials based on food waste, which are also fully biodegradable and reusable without loss of quality. Furthermore, in the project a production method for 3D printing is developed using cold-paste extrusion (including prototype hardware, paste and filament, and a regional supply chain). This will help to create a business case for the separate collection and treatment of organic waste, thereby closing the loop of organic materials in the city.

Mid-2022 the non-profit organization Junai Foundation was set up that will make the knowledge and designs open-source so that manufacturers, makers, and designers can deploy them and further drive related sustainable job and value creation. Researchers from AMS Institute and Junai Foundation have installed a 3D printing station at the Makerspace of AMS Institute, and developed and tested the first recipes of 3D printing pastes from organic waste streams. The first tests were conducted with oyster, saw dust, olive pit, paper pulp and cocoa shell powders since these are readily available to experiment with. The goal is to focus on what is available from the region’s hospitality and catering industry – such as mussels, shrimps, oysters, egg shells, and nuts.

Project lead: Jasper Middendorp (Junai Foundation) Program developer: Joke Dufourmont
Principal Investigator: prof.dr. Mark van Loosdrecht (TU Delft)
Research Fellow: dr. Mariet Sauerwein (TU Delft) Partners: Junai Foundation, TU Delft, Spark 904, and Omlab. 
Duration: 2 years
Budget: €249K

Image credits

Header image: Picture by Mariet Sauerwein

Icon image: Innovation Hub Biobased 3D Printing-by AMS Institute.png