Circularity through Materials, 3D Printing, and Design: Agro-Food Supply Chain
Biomass waste for 3D printing applications
Circularity through Materials, 3D Printing, and Design
Agro-Food Supply Chain
Research collaboration
- 📅 · Period:
December 2021 – May 2023 💰 · Collaboration:
SuperForma Srl, LowPoly SL, CoffeeFrom Srl, Nexeo Plastics Italy Srl.🏛 · Main facility:
Politecnico di Milano, Italy🤝 · Partners:
4 industrial partners, Italy (fabrication, materials, and design focuses).⭐ · My Role:
Funded research fellow and PhD candidate🏫 · My Affiliation:
Research Fellow and PhD candidate, Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano (Italy)🏷️ · Keywords:
Additive manufacturing, Material extrusion, Biomass materials, Agri-food waste, Circular materials, Circular design, 3D printing.
Overview
Circularity through Materials, 3D Printing, and Design: Agro-Food Supply Chain is a research collaboration carried out at +LAB, Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with four industrial partners. The project investigated the use of large-format Fused Granular Fabrication (FGF) additive manufacturing with biomass-derived and recycled thermoplastic materials, including PLA composites with spent coffee grounds and recycled post-consumer PLA, for circular economy product applications. Research activities included material characterization, process optimization, nonplanar slicing for FGF, and product concept development, connecting engineering, materials science, and design perspectives through 3D printing for real applications.
Project partners
Politecnico di Milano (IT) 🇮🇹
LowPoly SA (ES) 🇪🇸
Nexeo Plastics Italy Srl (IT) 🇮🇹
SuperForma Srl (IT) 🇮🇹
CoffeeFrom Srl (IT) 🇮🇹
Team members
+LAB Team: Marinella Levi, Alessia Romani, Lorenzo Perusin, Martina Paramatti
+SuperForma: Mattia Ciurnelli
+LowPoly: Gianluca Pugliese
+CoffeeFrom: Laura Gallo
💡
My contribution:
- State-of-the-art review: Conducted a systematic literature review at the intersection of large-format extrusion-based AM, biomass-derived and post-industrial/post-consumer waste materials, and product applications for circular economy.
- Materials: Experimental work on recycled post-consumer PLA feedstocks after multiple recycling cycles, and on virgin and recycled PLA, LDPE, and HDPE composites with spent coffee grounds with different weight concentrations for large-format Fused Granular Fabrication (FGF) additive manufacturing.
- Additive manufacturing: Process optimization of large-format FGF 3D printing parameters for recycled and composite thermoplastic feedstocks, and development of parametric definitions for nonplanar slicing gcode generation for large-format FGF.
- Product design: Development of product concepts and applications for FGF, especially connected to furniture and exhibition sectors. Development of the parts and samples included in the RepMat library (Replicating Materials Library), an open-source replicable materials library for circular materials.
- Dissemination: Publications, academic webinars, participation in community outreach events and design exhibitions, and MOOC lectures.
- Supervision: Master students working on their thesis work.
![[Gallery picture]](https://spaces-cdn.owlstown.com/blobs/wb2wc2iqiok041xzzxgjxw9yjrel.jpeg){kind=link}
![[Gallery picture]](https://spaces-cdn.owlstown.com/blobs/b1iooqlm6qoyasxpnc5sxotzhrmb.jpeg){kind=link}
Research and dissemination output connected to my work
- 📚 Publications: 4 Journal Articles
- 🎤 Presentations: Work presented at academic webinars, including T4C webinar (2024).
- 📢 Dissemination & outreach: Work presented at design exhibitions, such as Wonder Matter(s) by Materially in 2023, and exhibited at international fairs, including Plast 2023; featured in videos and part of MOOC (Massive Open Online Course).
Selected dissemination and media outreach
CoffeeFrom at Wonder Matter(s), Materially
3D printed materials with spent coffee grounds, Wonder Matter(s), SuperDesign Show, Milan Design Week 2023 (Apr 17-23, 2023)
Revolutionary Polymers Derived From Food Waste
AZO Materials (Feb 2024)
Materials from waste and additive manufacturing for the circular economy
Video from the T4C Webinar (EU project Tracks4Crafts, 2024)
Coffeefrom Break #5 - Wonder Matter(s) @Milano Design Week
Video interview about the participation at Wonder Matter(s) with CoffeeFrom Srl (2023)
Publications from the project
Conference papers
- Romani A*, Perusin L, Ciurnelli M, Levi M (2024) Characterization of PLA feedstock after multiple recycling processes for large-format material extrusion additive manufacturing. Materials Today Sustainability, 25, 100636. DOI: 10.1016/j.mtsust.2023.100636
- Paramatti M, Romani A*, Pugliese G, Levi M (2024) PLA Feedstock Filled with Spent Coffee Grounds for New Product Applications with Large-Format Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing. ACS Omega, 9(6), 6423-6431. DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c05669
- Romani A*, Paramatti M, Gallo L, Levi M (2024) Large-format material extrusion additive manufacturing of PLA, LDPE, and HDPE compound feedstock with spent coffee grounds. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 134, 1845-1861. DOI: 10.1007/s00170-024-14214-2
- Romani A*, Levi M (2024) Large-Format Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing for Circular Economy Practices: A Focus on Product Applications with Materials from Recycled Plastics and Biomass Waste. Sustainability, 16(18), 7966. DOI: 10.3390/su16187966
Other outputs from the project
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)
- Materials from waste and 3D printing (2025) Two lectures in the MOOC "Materials design for transitions: toward regenerative ecologies", part of the POK series (Polimi Open Knowledge), Politecnico di Milano. Available at: https://www.pok.polimi.it/course/view.php?id=170#tab2