Chinese Polymaker – one of the largest and most innovative filament manufacturers, announced that since November this year all its products will be offered on new, fully recycled cardboard reels. The change will also apply to boxes, which will also be made of recycled cardboard.
The new spools are made of cardboard 4 mm thick. The side edges are embossed and cut out, and then glued together to form a section of a cardboard tube rolled into strips. The thickness of the cardboard provides good protection for the filament, and the spool can roll very efficiently on all handle designs in 3D printers – both internal and external. One of the biggest challenges was finding an adhesive that could withstand the high temperatures necessary to dry selected filaments, such as nylon. It must be dried at 100°C, however the natural glue that is used to glue the spools is able to withstand these temperatures without melting.
There is a glued QR code on the front of the spool, which takes you to the product information sheet on the Polymaker website. There are also 3D printing profiles for individual materials, TDS and SDS cards and all other filament documentation.
Source: Polymaker press materials