Thursday March 28th, 2024
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3D Printing Meets Recycling

When he's not making crappy music, Will.I.Am is teaming up with Coca Cola and 3DS Systems to try to save the world using 3D printers that run on recycled materials.

Staff Writer

Apparently when terrible musician Will.I.Am is not being a terrible musician and all-round idiot, he's actually revolutionising the way we look at recycling. Go figure. Ekocycle, a collaborative brand launched by Will.I.Am and the Coca Cola Company have teamed up with 3DS Systems and are set to release the world's first 3D Printer which uses post-consumer recycled material to create an array of contemporary lifestyle products. The printer will be available for the public later this year.

The EKOCYCLE™ Cube 3D printer will allow people to pop in two to three of their empty plastic bottles and create prints in beautiful 70-micron high resolution at fast speeds and up to 6” cubed in size, anything from mobile covers to jewelry to furniture to works of art. "The EKOCYCLE Cube remixes our relationship with recycling, giving everyone who uses it, from students to homecrafters to artists to inventors, a direct and immediate link to how they have repurposed something old for something new," says the website.

"The goal of EKOCYCLE™ is to "partner with the most influential brands around the world and use technology, art, style and inspiration to change an entire culture. We will make it cool to recycle, and we will make it cool to make products using recycled materials. This is the beginning of a more sustainable 3D-printed lifestyle. Waste is only waste if we waste it," adds Will.I.Am, possible in auto-tune.

The printer will be able to create objects with four colors: natural, red, black and white, and features a color touchscreen with an intuitive user interface. The printer will retail for $1,199 and is available from Cubify.

Now if only if Will.I.Am could find a way to recycle his rubbish music...