Felfil plastic shredder

Felfil is an Italian company that started out of passion for 3D printing and sustainable design. The company was born in 2015 with a Kickstarter campaign for the EVO plastic extruder, and since then the recycling system has grown by two more devices - the spooler and the plastic shredder.

Since its invention at the beginning of the 20th century, it didn’t take long for plastic to be commercialized and take the world by storm. Useful as it is, plastic is the source of a lot of waste and pollution. The Felfil plastic shredder is the answer to that problem on a domestic scale but with a lot of potential to make a big difference.

Recycle plastic into filament at home

The Felfil plastic shredder gives any 3D printer user the opportunity to 3D print with almost zero waste and turn plastic (for example, bottle caps), failed 3D prints or removed support material into new custom filament. All that can be done with no big space requirements as all the dimensions are under 50cm and the weight of the shredder is only 15 kg. A normal office desk or even a table are a perfect surface.

Image 1: Recycling failed prints, support material or other plastics with the Felfil Shredder. Source: Felfil.

The Felfil plastic shredder is quite sustainable as it has low energy consumption (between 430-625 W depending on the model). The capacity of the hopper is 2.6 L and the capacity of the bin is 1.2 L. The shredder arrives assembled and can be used immediately.

Image 2: The Felfil shredder’s hopper and bin. Source: Felfil.

It should be remembered that the shredder should be placed on a clean, flat and stable surface. Nothing should be placed on top of or around the shredder in order to keep the air flow unobstructed and prevent the shredder from overheating. More information on the correct use and maintenance of the Felfil shredder can be found in the Usage tips section and in the manual in the Downloads section.

A safe design

The Felfil shredder was designed not only to be sustainable and compact but also safe and easy to use. The interface is made up of the hopper lid and only one button. The led lights indicate if the shredder is ready to start (green light) or not (red light). The shredder is equipped with 2 sensors that will prevent the motor and the blades from running (red light) if the lid is open or if the bin is not inserted.

Image 3: The red led light indicates the cover is open. Source: Felfil.

Once material is inserted into the hopper, the button is pressed and the shredding starts. The software of the shredder completes the cycle automatically - it stops running when the hopper is empty (the Intellishredding Technology). The material can be processed only once. Once the shreds are in the bin, they cannot be reintroduced into the hopper but they are ready to be extruded.

An intelligent blade system

The shredding system is made up of 12 fully replaceable stainless steel blades with different profiles. It can shred about 2 kg (model 500) to 4 kg (model 750) of plastic in one hour.

Image 4: The four blade types used in the Felfil Shredder. Source: Felfil.

The blade system contains 4 different types of blades, each of them with a different function to perform:

1. The main blade, also known as the shredder, is a strong and durable blade responsible for the shredding of the material.
2. The counter blade can turn back and forth to further grind the plastic bits.
3. The central blade, placed in the center of the shredder, has a scythe design. Its task is to crush the biggest chunks.
4. The side blade is the most complex blade. Its shape is a combination of the central blade and the counter blade. The side blade performs all three tasks - it moves, shreds and crushes the plastic chunks.

Thanks to this variation in blade kinds, the Felfil plastic shredder can process different materials. The shredder has been successfully tested with PLA, PETG, HDPE, PMMA, PET and even PA-Carbon.

Video 1: Testing the Felfil Shredder with plastics of different thickness. Source: Felfil.

Out of the 5 thicknesses tested, the Model 500 shredder only had trouble with probes of 10 mm and 12 mm thickness. Samples of smaller thicknesses (3 mm, 5 mm, and 8 mm) all took around 1 minute or less to shred. It can be safely said that the Model 500 shredder can successfully shred 100 % infill parts of up to 10 mm of thickness. For bigger pieces (up to 20 mm) the more appropriate choice is the Model 750 shredder.

A complete recycling system

The Felfil plastic shredder can be used together with the EVO extruder and the spooler as part of a complete recycling system. With this set, it is possible to shred plastic, extrude it into filament and wrap the filament onto a spool, all in a continuous interconnected system.

Image 5: The Felfil shredder is part of the Felfil recycling system. Source: Felfil.

The Felfil plastic shredder is easy and safe to use, occupies little space and allows the users of desktop 3D printers to make their own filament in a fast and sustainable way at home, with no need for specialist equipment or a professional workspace.