In 2022, I had a realization: what if the waste generated by 3D printing didn’t have to end up in a landfill? Additive manufacturing is often celebrated as a revolutionary technology, yet behind every prototype and failed print is a growing pile of plastic waste.
As a 3D printing hobbyist, I saw this problem firsthand. Boxes of PLA waste accumulated quickly, and there were few viable options for responsible disposal. Throughout 2022, I went through pitch competitions and incubators, speaking with makers, researchers, and educators to refine my idea. By Fall 2022, I was ready to launch our first pilot: ♻️3cycle.
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In the early days, I wasn’t sure whether there would be enough demand to sustain the initiative. That uncertainty didn’t last long. Interest grew rapidly – faster than I could manage alone. By 2023, my co-founder had joined me, and together we began building a team to support the growing momentum. Over the next three years, a dedicated group of students helped recycle more than 450 kg of PLA waste, serving 22 institutions across the Kitchener–Waterloo region.
I’m most proud of not just the volume of material diverted from landfills, but the ecosystem that formed around the work. I engaged more than 20 students, raised over $20,000 in funding, and navigated the realities of running a mission-driven venture. Along the way, I confronted and learned from technical setbacks, operational bottlenecks, financial constraints, and the complexities of leading people. 3cycle became an education in entrepreneurship as much as it was an environmental initiative.
Read the full article on uwaterloo.ca
When my co-founder and I graduated in 2024, we made a deliberate decision to evolve 3cycle’s model. We wound down our local recycling operations and shifted our focus toward knowledge-sharing, launching a Slack community to help others replicate and scale our approach. While the format changed, our mission remained the same – to address the challenges of 3D-printed waste.
From 2024 to 2025, I supported makers across Canada with hardware guidance, technical resources, and practical insights to launch their own recycling initiatives. As my other professional commitments grew, however, the time I could dedicate to nurturing the community naturally declined. Entering 2026, I’ve decided to sunset the 3cycle website and Slack community.
The 3cycle homepage
Nearly five years after its inception, 3cycle stands as a testament to what can happen when a community rallies around a shared problem. I’ve been continually inspired by the creativity, resilience, and collaborative spirit of the 3D printing community. As new materials and recycling solutions emerge at an accelerating pace, I’m excited to see how the next generation of makers continues to push the boundaries of sustainable manufacturing!