Return packaging and prints for recycling

 

Return KiwiFil spools and packaging material

Are you also sick and tired of empty filament spools piling up in your printer room? Well, we have the solution!

We will take back all KiwiFil packaging material for re-use: spools, boxes, zipper bags, desiccant packages, and box cards, as well as any other items from KiwiFil. We will re-use it all until it is too tattered to be used. Not until then will they be recycled.

Being a small company, we unfortunately can't cover the shipping cost, but you can drop it off for free if you don't want to mail it (address at the bottom of the page).

If you like, we will give you a bit of store credit in return that can be used at www.KiwiFil.com:

- Boxes and spools: $1/each
- Zipper bags: $0.25/each
- Desiccant packages and box/bag instruction card: $0.1/each.

If it isn't practical for you to return the spools to us, you can just chuck them in the cardboard recycling bin. The heavy duty zipper bags can be re-used for storing other things. The box can be turned inside out and used as a mailer, or as storage for other things. The desiccant packages can be re-activated as well (you can find online how to do it).

Return KiwiFil PLA and PETG prints

We all end up with failed prints now and then, or prints that just didn't work out as planned. 3D prints should not be placed in your regular curbside recycling bin. Instead, send them to us for recycling into new filament! :-)

We will happily accept discarded PLA and PETG prints for recycling. We are currently accepting all brands of PLA and PETG because we are in a research and development stage of the recycling process, but in the future we will only accept KiwiFil prints to ensure the quality of our recycled filament stays top notch.

It is super important that the materials are separated and labeled. A single piece of the wrong material will ruin the entire batch of material that is being recycled. If in doubt - leave it out! We don't have any method of determining what material a print is made of - we have to trust you!

Dos and Don'ts when returning 3D prints for recycling

Do

  • Separate and label the different materials. We currently only recycle PLA and PETG into new filament. If PLA and PETG gets mixed in the recycling process, the whole batch will be destroyed. If in doubt - leave it out!
  • If you have more than just a few large pieces, please separate the colours; it will save a lot of work for us. Different shades of the same colour (for example red) can go in the same bag or box.
  • Include complete or failed prints, as well as support and wide brims.
  • If you have KiwiFil filament remnants you want to return, please leave them on the spools and return the entire thing. For other brands, please put all filament in a separate bag or box. Filament will fall right through the shredder, so it will instead be pelletized in our pelletizer machine.
  • If you want to drop it off, send us an email first to make sure we are in. We usually work afternoons and evenings, including weekends, but we can be in at pretty much any time by appointment.

Don't

  • Don't include "spaghetti", skirts, prime strings or other tiny tiny pieces, unless the entire "spaghetti mess" is of a single colour and is contained in a bag by itself. The tiny pieces are difficult to recycle, and prone to pick up dust and other contaminants.
  • Don't include ANY metal parts - melt-in nuts, screws, old print nozzles, die cutters, steel wire etc. A single piece of metal can cause thousands of dollars in damage to the shredder or extruder.
  • Don't include any parts that has glue, paint, tape, or materials other than PLA and PETG.
  • Don't throw your prints in the trash - send them to us for recycling instead! :-)

Mailing/drop off address

Packaging material for re-use and 3D prints for recycling can be mailed to, or dropped off by appointment at this address:

KiwiFil 3D Ltd.
24 Campbell Street
Tokoroa
Tokoroa, 3420
South Waikato
New Zealand

Thank you for closing the loop on 3D printing!