Require manufacturers to label materials used

[Demolishun]

What if we could get it so manufacturers had to label the product or provide literature about the materials used to manufacture the product? This would only really be required by OEMs. So an OEM that makes a MP3 player would only have to provide information about packaging (the case) and provide a paper trail for the internal components. The internal component OEMs would have to provide info about their products. I would also extend this to the plastic and paper packaging that are used.

Why? That way people can decide if they want to buy the product based upon how recyclable the components are. If you knew the case for an MP3 player was made out of something you could extrude and print with when it was obsolete then you might buy a brand that makes one that can be. Initially I would shoot just for the case materials and packaging materials to be documented. That way you can decide which products you buy. For instance, if a packager made a products packaging out of PETT versus PET it might be more recyclable at home. There is already some requirements for this, but it would be nice if it was similar to food labels.

Now the flip side of this is proprietary blends. In those cases a manufacturer could label it proprietary. We still have the choice to decide if we want to use that product on that basis alone. I think this would fit in nicely with the Open Hardware movement going on. I really appreciate being able to not only reuse the guts, but the packaging reuse would be awesome as well.

Thoughts?

BTW, I am generally a proponent of limited government, but it is getting more important that we stop throwing plastic wrapping in the municipal waste sites. So in my opinion a law to this effect would send a clear message to manufacturers what the people want regardless of the country you are in.

[Generic Default]

Just playin' devils advocate here.

What about when the cost to label the materials is greater than the material cost itself? Most plastic things are dirt cheap to make (excluding the cost of equipment to make it), and labels can get expensive.

Also, manufacturers typically keep their parts proprietary specifically because they DONT want you to know what's in them.

The plastic labeling is already common. You see those little triangular things on the bottles and bottle caps and just on molded parts in general, right? Those tell you what kind of plastic it's made out of. There are over 19,000 different brand-recipes for plastics, but the chemical identities of the different types of plastics are limited to a few types.

One last thing. People in general are clueless about different types of plastics. You are in a small group of people who actually care, and there is no incentive for companies to tell you what goes into their products when they aren't even sure themselves!

The paper trail you mention would be complicated. Suppose you want to know what a cell-phone is made out of. For the shell alone, the paper trail would include;

-Chemical identity of plastic resin (ABS).
-Proportion of chemicals used in the sysnthesis of the resin.
-List of chemicals used, along with their manufacturers and the certifications of those manufactures.
-Chemical identity of the colorant used to make the case pretty, along with it's manufacturer and certifications.
-Injection molding temperature, pressure, and mold release chemical, along with their manufacturers and certifications.

That's just for one simple part! And keep in mind that most stuff is made in east Asia where the manufacturers constantly lie to avoid penalties for being honest.

I like your idea but the world's supply chain is just to messed up for it to work.

[Demolishun]

I was more thinking end user products. Like the labels you see on food.

Yes, I could see this being difficult. However, companies would have the option to label their materials as proprietary. Then the end user can decide if they want to buy a product that actually tells you what they used or use a proprietary/unknown recycle ability product. I would rather go this route than be stupid and force everyone to not use certain materials. I am referring to no lead in solder like Europe did. That just made every product on the market severely less reliable. I can see at some point manufacturers being forced to use recyclable components.

You are right in that it would upset the current system. But that is kind of what the home based 3d printer market is doing anyway. Honestly I was glad to hear that the major manufacturers are upset about the 3d printing phenomenon. That means positive change will come out of this. If we speak up that is. Being able to be selective about product components we buy is a good start.

[Generic Default]

If you want this to happen, you're going to have to start it because nobody else will.

I'd say start a group on some online forum in which the members of the group email manufacturers and tell them that they want to see labels on their products before they'll buy them. Kind of like how many contract machine shops who make parts for the military (i.e. Aerospace parts) require certificates on the materials they use in order to avoid liability.

The 3d printing filament market is a great place to start. Don't you want to know what you're squirting out of your hotend? I do. You send the first email about labeling to a company of your choice, and I'll follow. If a filament retailer or manufacturer gets enough requests for documentation, they will probably do it for a competitive edge in the market.

[geneb]

They're called MSDS sheets.

g,

[Demolishun]

MSDS is generally only for chemicals. Not the material used to make the packaging or case for an iPod. That is what I want to know about. So the consumer can decide to buy or not to buy.

[Eaglezsoar]

MSDS is generally only for chemicals. Not the material used to make the packaging or case for an iPod. That is what I want to know about. So the consumer can decide to buy or not to buy.

In all reality only .1% of society could care less what is in the case they just bought. This is a disposable, give a crap less about the planet earth society.
Your efforts and the feelings behind them are great but in the end very few to no one is going to care and that is the sad but true part. Some of the plastic
being made now will be around thousands of years because we treat our planet like a garbage dump.

[Demolishun]

Partly I wanted to raise awareness of people in general. Also, I am thinking if people know what is in the products then they might be more likely to get an extruder, or work with someone who has one.

I agree with you on the 0.1% though. However, I think if people had the ability to recycle stuff at home they would. It is not that they don't care, it is that they feel powerless to make a difference. I think the 3d printing movement could increase awareness of the waste and give people options to make a difference. Especially through the maker spaces through out the world.

[carter]

man, we can't even get foods to be labeled GMO in CALIFORNIA.

This needs to be attacked from the grass roots level. I am very interested in getting a filastruder, or preferably splitting one 3 ways with some locals (Shout out San Jose peeps!) and if I had access to one, I'd totally be down with some experimental extruding. An online community could pretty quickly compile a list of recycable products, where to dumpster dive for them... remember when the preschool teacher told everyone to save their egg cartons?

There may be ventilation issues - be smart - but I don't see why it matters what the chemical symbol for the plasitic is. you just need to know that (eg) your county's schools throw out a million plastic bags from cisco foods every friday, and somebody successfully made filament out of it, and it melted at X Celcius, and stuck to the bed pretty well with some hair spray.

Start a website where people can post success and failures with different garbage.

If you ever played Elder Scrolls - you could add an alchemy page where you can list mixtures of common garbage that worked. You could even mix up colors: 2 parts lucerne milk jugs, 3 parts 7up, 1 part mountain dew, and 7 parts PLA beads from http://www.filament.com (not a real website AFAIK)

[Demolishun]

Carter,
Yeah, I am starting to think that would be the better approach. If a bill were introduced idiots would add adders to it and bind everyone's soul who sponsored the bill to eternal torment.

I like the idea of a database. Also a hall of fame maybe for companies and extruder companies that are more transparent in their material choices. I also plan on experimenting with extruder mixes. I have been reading up on the plastics and what works so this is kind of something I am starting on. It could be a wiki for sharing, but maybe with some common sense moderators. Don't want to advise people to mix stuff that kills them. Perhaps we can find some industry specialists.