Bottle to Filament: 3D Printing
Turning recycled bottles into 3D-printing filament, made right here in the community.
From 2-liter bottle to printer-ready PET
Every participating school receives a bottle-cutting kit. In this walkthrough, Anikaa shows exactly how it works: prepping a clean 2-liter bottle, cutting it into a continuous ribbon, and getting that ribbon ready to become 3D-printing filament.
Bottle-cutting assembly
A ready-to-use cutter that turns a clean 2-liter bottle into one continuous strip of PET.
Step-by-step instructions
How to prep the bottle, set the cut width, and pull an even ribbon every time.
Filament-ready ribbon
The finished strip is ready to be pulled into filament for the school's 3D printer.
Bottle to Filament closes the recycling loop locally. Plastic bottles collected from school recycling bins are shredded and processed into filament for 3D printing, turning discarded material into the raw supply for new, usable objects made within the community.
The project serves a dual purpose: it is both a waste reduction effort and a hands-on STEM opportunity. Students see the full life cycle of what they recycle, from the bin to the build, and gain direct experience with materials processing, design, and fabrication along the way.
One bottle's journey
Follow a single bottle through the loop: collected at school, processed locally, and spun into filament that's ready for the printer.
Collect bottles
Gather plastic bottles from school recycling bins.
Clean & sort
Wash and separate plastics by type for processing.
Process plastic
Shred and melt clean plastic into raw material.
Create filament
Spin the material into usable recycled filament.
3D-print new objects
Print something new from recycled filament.
From the recycling bin, to the 3D printer. ♻
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School Waste Policy
Amending state policy to strengthen recycling in Kentucky schools and phase styrofoam out of cafeterias.