Material Insight: Fishy Filaments™

Fishy Filaments: Fishing Nets Used for 3-D Printing

Fishing nets tend to be set aside as waste when they have been physically damaged during fishing or become coated with an algal biofilm. Fishing nets contain valuable materials, including nylon 6 (PA6) monofilament that only goes to waste when discarded. To decrease landfill clutter and ocean pollution, a U.K based Fishy Filaments Ltd has created a process to safely recycle these nets for 3-D printing.

How It’s Done

The fishing net waste is collected and then processed using a proprietary washing and shredding process to thermo-mechanically recycle it into clean and dimensionally stable filaments. The process of producing the renewed filament is designed for minimal chemical and energy use, with both water and gaseous emissions considered throughout the entire process.

Applications

The material can be supplied either as a filament in 0.07 in or 0.11 in (1.75 mm or 2.85 mm) diameter on cardboard spools or as a bagged pellet in 0.11 into 0.20 in (3 mm to 5mm) length. The filaments can only be supplied in the colors of the original fishing nets, though the company does anticipate offering slightly different colors within the blue-green palette in the future by blending. Applications are suitable for desktop 3D printing.

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