3D printing is great for producing useful things that meet all sorts of needs. However, there is a certain amount of plastic waste that gets generated: failed prints, the “printer poop” (extrusions for priming the nozzle, etc) and, often overlooked, the empty spools. I can tell that I’ve run over 5kg of plastic through my printer because I’ve got five empty spools waiting for me to find something clever to do with them.

Today I’ve printed some drawers that turn one of my old Sunlu spools into a six-section storage unit. It is from this design on Makerworld and it is too early to say how practical it will turn out to be in extended use but went together easily and I’m anticipating that I might end up running off a few more.