‘Renegade’ is the pen that recycles plastic bottles into 3D printed sculptures

‘Renegade’ is the pen that recycles plastic bottles into 3D printed sculptures

‘renegade’ was born with the goal of being the perfect robust tool to eliminate expensive 3D printing filaments and save the environment by directly recycling and reusing household plastic waste for 3D printing. sustainabletech specializes in one thing, and one thing only: it prints models by recycling plastic bottles, files, and bags. it does this by providing a great 3D printing experience without compromise.

the pen reuses old plastic items to benefit creativity

‘renegade’ uses a robust and powerful extruder that includes a screw feed mechanism and a heating system. These are combined to transport, destroy and melt the plastic tape produced by the ‘chupacut’ plastic bottle crusher or even the standard filaments. the rotating screw forces the heated plastic forward evenly and expels it from the nozzle. the molten plastic then rapidly cools into a solid and stable space structure. The tool uses a powerful drive motor and gearbox, which eliminates known plastic material feeding issues that most 3D pens currently face. the temperature can be adjusted from 50°C to 320°C with a single controller and the speed is also controlled with a single button.


‘Renegade’ makes use of a powerful engine to eliminate 3D printing problems

The sustainable instrument can use 5-7mm strips cut from PET plastic bottles, plastic bags or plastic files with a thickness of 0.14-0.35mm. You can also use standard PLA, ABS, nylon, TPE, HIPS, wood and other types of filaments with a diameter of 1.75mm. It is available in two finish options: matte black and matte white, and it also has a removable accessory with a colored spool for plastic tapes.


various plastic products can be dissected using the ‘chupacut’ tool


‘chupacut’ is a manual plastic bottle shredder that produces the perfect plastic strips to use with the 3D printing pen. Its spherical shape allows you to create 3, 6, 9 or 12mm plastic strips without having to change settings. It has curved grooves that significantly reduce frictional force and provide very efficient rotation of the bottle, keeping it at an acute angle to the blade while cutting. this also extends the life of the blade and results in a faster and more stable cutting process.

the sharp blade is safely housed within the friendly face of the instrument

the design ensures that the blade is completely enclosed within the instrument. After installation, the blade can only be removed by using another blade of similar size for safety reasons. The telescopic ‘chupacut’ support keeps large bottles stable, in any position. a stable bottle means a more reliable cutting process that produces the smoothest plastic strips. ‘renegade’ is seeking funding through its kickstarter campaign, which can be viewed here.

all materials and components are stored on the stand

martin hislop I designboom

July 16, 2016