Manufacturing Zero-Waste COVID-19 Personal Protection Equipment: a Case Study of Utilizing 3D Printing While...

COVID-19 pandemic outbreak dictated the extensive use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by the majority of the population and mostly by frontline professionals. This need triggered a sudden demand that led to a global shortage of available PPEs threatening to have an immense contribution to the virus contamination spread. In these conditions, the need for a local, flexible, and rapid manufacturing method that would be able to cope with the increased demand for PPE fabrication arose. 3D printing proved to be such a manufacturing technique since its working principles make it an ideal technology for local, decentralized production of PPEs meeting the local demands. While considered to be more environmentally friendly than conventional fabrication techniques and aligning well with the principles of sustainability and circular economy, 3D printing can produce waste as the result of potential failed prints and material used for the fabrication of support structures. This paper describes the case of utilizing pre-existing FDM 3D printing equipment in an academic facility for the production of PPEs (face shields) and their distribution according to local demands. The plastic wastes produced were forwarded to a recycling process that led to their conversion to 3D filament that would be returned to the academic facility as raw material for future 3D printing operations. The followed procedure minimized 3D printing waste and led to a zero-waste fabrication case that was initiated in a pandemic for a greater-good cause (production of COVID-19 fighting PPEs) while assimilating the values of sustainability and circular economy.