London-based Ai Build is a company developing artificial intelligence and robotic technologies for large-scale additive manufacturing. The award-winning young company is teetering on unicorn status with its most recent million-dollar funding round and A-list corporate clients in aerospace and automotive. Yet, though all of the press and investor attention, they haven’t lost sight of one thing they consider a core value of Ai Build; commitment to sustainability in manufacturing.

Here, Ai Build Co-Founder and COO, Michail Desyllas, talks about why recycled filament is essential to their mission.

Q. Was your initial idea to use recycled filament based on your personal concerns for the environment?

For us, in order to close the loop of sustainable manufacturing from software to manufacturing, we have to push for recycled materials to be used in every project. This is due to the circular economy of fabrication but also our concern for the environment. Reflow is our choice of supplier because of their short lead times and quality of filaments.

At Ai Build, we are building a powerful ecosystem platform for additive manufacturing. Our inspiration is driven by nature’s efficient optimized processes. The technology is closely linked to a materials’ parameters and application requirements, and its purpose is to process material more efficiently but also with the least volume needed to meet the desired quality.

Q. You probably do not use recycled filament for every project, correct?

About 60% of the projects we have processed until now, were done with recycled materials. It is important to note, however, that in applications, such as composite tooling, most of the recycled materials are not appropriate for the current requirements needed.

Q. Is the use of recycled filament a selling point in your work?

Customers are far more sensitive and concerned about the environment today. This aligns perfectly with our ethos within AiBuild. Having the capability to provide recycled solutions together with our partners gives us a competitive advantage, especially in industries such as construction or even in highly regulated ones such as aerospace.

Q. Have you found any differences between recycled filament and virgin filament for your applications?

There are stages of innovation involved when using recycled materials. The differences vary from the molecular level right up to large scale printed parts. Working with the right partners speeds up the evolution of materials though many tests and iterations, until we can get to the precise desired performance while remaining sustainable. Applications in Aerospace are the perfect benchmark because of the industry’s highly regulated nature. Serving this industry can help us learn a lot about improving and competing with virgin materials.

Q. For those that question the quality of recycled filament (for reliability, repeatability, strength, etc.) what would be your advice?

Reliability, repeatability and strength are cross related. Choosing the right technology and material supplier plays a huge role in the success of the process. It is difficult to trust and try new materials. As processes within a specific application are already established and tested through time, a new material will need a long time until it can be certified. This means that someone will need to look at the entire manufacturing cycle to understand the return on investment using recycled materials.

Q. Have you noticed if recycled filament has gotten better over the years?

Definitely recycled material has gotten better, and the range of possibilities have increased the last five years.

The next five years should be focused more on increasing the range of possibilities, especially for high performance requirements in industries such as aerospace, automotive, and energy.

Q. Would you consider your company to be an advocate for recycled filament?

Yes, we have processed over 10,000 kilos of recycled filament till today which cuts GHG emissions dramatically and leads to about a 70% impact on greenhouse gas production and feedstock. As oppose to adding new plastic our suppliers remove plastic waste that could end up into the air, oceans and rivers.

As a technology company we support and promote recycled materials as we are concerned about the environment, but also due to the benefits they can bring to us and our customers down the line. This may lead to longer lead times for leveraging the benefits, but we are confident and committed this is the right path.