An Australian Company Is Turning E-Scrap Into 3D Printer Filament

The problem with old electronics

Most discarded printers, computers, and monitors end up in landfill. The hard ABS plastic casings inside them have no real resale value, so recyclers often do not bother separating them. Renew IT, an Australian asset management company, decided that waste stream was worth a second look.

The company partnered with the University of New South Wales SMaRT Centre to adapt a technology called the Plastics Filament MICROfactorie. The module takes ABS from e-scrap, processes it through controlled heating and cooling, and spools the result into 3D printer filament.

From landfill to spool

Researchers have been developing the process since 2023. By 2024, the system was producing around 200 filament spools per day. Sales began in 2025, and the operation has already diverted tens of millions of pounds of e-scrap plastic from landfill.

The key detail is the source material. Renew IT only uses plastic from devices it cannot refurbish or resell. That means every kilogram of filament represents waste that would otherwise have nowhere to go. Veena Sahajwalla, director of the UNSW SMaRT Centre, notes that Australia currently imports nearly all of its 3D printing filament. Making it domestically from recycled stock cuts both freight emissions and reliance on virgin petrochemicals.

The business case

Aaron Blackrock, Renew IT's chief sales officer, says the company is now evaluating the financials of scaling production to commercial levels. He told the recent ITAD Summit in Las Vegas that winning customers requires more than price. The story behind the material matters.

The global 3D printing filament market is estimated at $1.5 billion and projected to exceed $7 billion by 2033, according to Grand View Research. Other companies, including Nefilatek in Canada, are pursuing similar e-scrap filament models. The difference will come down to who can balance cost, quality, and narrative at scale.

For now, Renew IT's MICROfactorie in Lane Cove, Sydney, is the only commercial operation of its kind outside the UNSW lab. If the expansion works, it could set a template for other e-waste streams: find the plastic no one else wants, turn it into something makers will buy, and keep it local.