Local production, green energy and zero emissions

To achieve our sustainability goals, we take every measure possible to reduce the environmental impact of our production practices. Apart from using energy from clean sources only, filtering air pollutants and conserving water, this also means pushing things forward when it comes to new production technologies and sustainable materials.

In simple terms, our 3D printing process involves sintering layers of powdered plastic into a solid structure. This is known as SLS (selective laser sintering). “Sintering” is the process of forming a solid shape by heat without melting it to the point of liquefaction. The SLS process is carried out in the 3 steps: Heating, Printing and Cooling.

Find out more about natural3D and our 3D printing prozess by watching our video:

The parts have an opaque white finish when they come out of the printer. They have to undergo surface treatment before they can be color treated. A sand blasting process is used to remove any residues of the polyamide powder. This step is carefully executed to prevent any surface damage. The surface is then polished ready for the coloration process.

Our high-tech coloring process is a well-guarded company secret. We only produce parts in monochrome shades at the moment, but we are continually developing new and innovative color options. The colors are resistant to natural chemicals (such as sweat), UV light and any type of solvent, normally used by opticians.

The ethos of circularity in manufacturing drives all our decisions and is why we introduced our closed-loop 3D manufacturing process at the beginning of 2019. Circularity is achieved by recycling residue polyamide in our production process and by ensuring waste we are unable to use can be used in other applications.

During every printing process, a rectangular box is completely filled with powder. Not all of the powder is melted during the 3D printing process and is defined as “used” powder. This can be mixed with new powder and reused to produce a new batch of components. The mixture cannot contain more than 50% used powder.

Once the old powder is no longer usable, it is collected by a specialist plastics processing company which ensures that the old powder is properly recycled within environmental management guidelines. As long as the material is free of any traces of oxidation and contamination, it can be recycled in any production process that does not specifically require 100% virgin products. The manufacturer of our 3D printer covers the transport costs and acts as an intermediary between us and the recycling company. The money is used to fund social initiatives as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility program.

For our naturalPX material we have developed an fast injection molding process, that controls the flow of our naturalPX more precisely as it enters the mold which makes the process more efficient and prevents unnecessary waste. More than 90% of the material that is used is processed to produce a new frame. Any small amounts of excess naturalPX that escape can be recycled.