The Digital Factory - Episode 24: The environmental impact of 3D printing is not what you'd expect

Episode 24: The environmental impact of 3D printing is not what you'd expect

08/29/19 • 49 min

How sustainable is 3D printing? Ask most experts and you’ll get some hand-waving: it creates less waste than machining and reduces transportation energy, but many materials aren’t recyclable. All of those factors turn out to be overstated when they’re subjected to careful study.

In this episode of the Digital Factory Podcast, Jon Bruner talks with Jeremy Faludi, an assistant professor of sustainable design at TU Delft, about the measurable environmental impact of 3D printing. His conclusions are nuanced and sometimes surprising.

Visit http://bit.ly/2ZnzbNF for links and notes on this episode.

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Episode 23: Terry Wohlers on 3D printing at scale

Terry Wohlers, President of Wohlers Associates and author of the authoritative Wohlers Report on 3D printing, is my guest on this episode of the podcast. We talk about 3D printing at scale, the importance of design for additive, the emergence of metal 3D printing, and the inflection points he’s watching for.

Videos of every presentation at the Digital Factory Conference are now available at https://www.thedigitalfactory.com/videos, and Wohlers is featured on this panel: https://www.thedigitalfactory.com/videos/scaling-additive-manufacturing-from-prototype-to-production

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Next Episode

Episode 25: Sustainability as a business model

Corporate sustainability has its roots in risk management and health and safety management—sort of a conservative, back-office function. Now it’s a competitive differentiator.

In this episode of the Digital Factory Podcast, Jon Bruner talks with Zoé Bezpalko, sustainability strategy manager at Autodesk, about how manufacturers can use new technologies to make products sustainably—and to reach customers, potential employees, and partners who demand sustainability.

Visit http://bit.ly/2mPeK9W for links and notes on this episode.