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Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Fused Filament Fabrication FFF of Metal-Ceramic Components
Published on: January 11, 2019
Environmental Impact of Fused Filament Fabrication: What Is Known from Life Cycle Assessment?
Antonella Sola1, Roberto Rosa1, Anna Maria Ferrari1
1Department of Sciences and Methods for Engineering (DISMI), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via G. Amendola 2, 42122 Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Abstract:
This systematic review interrogates the literature to understand what is known about the environmental sustainability of fused filament fabrication, FFF (also known as fused deposition modeling, FDM), based on life cycle assessment (LCA) results. Since substantial energy demand is systematically addressed as one of the main reasons for ecological damage in FFF, mitigation strategies are often based on reducing the printing time (for example, adopting thicker layers) or the embodied energy per part (e.g., by nesting, which means by printing multiple parts in the same job). A key parameter is the infill degree, which can be adjusted to the application requirements while saving printing time/energy and feedstock material. The adoption of electricity from renewable resources is also expected to boost the sustainability of distributed manufacturing through FFF. Meanwhile, bio-based and recycled materials are being investigated as less impactful alternatives to conventional fossil fuel-based thermoplastic filaments.
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