Prusa Research is probably a name you’ve heard if you’re into 3D printing, as they’ve developed a few popular printers like the Prusa i3 MK3S+. They also make their own lines of filament, known as Prusament, and you can also get their PLA and PETG filaments in a recycled version. Prusament PLA and PETG recycled filaments are both made from the scraps and excess material from Prusa’s manufacturing process of their regular PLA and PETG filaments.

It’s also worth mentioning that Prusa only sells recycled Prusament in 2-kg spools, and they maintain a decent +/- 0.05 mm diameter tolerance. Additionally, Prusa states that every batch of recycled filament comes in a different color, so you can’t choose exactly what you want – don’t be surprised that there’s no color choice at check-out.

Prusament recycled filaments are overall pretty good when it comes to material properties. As they’re recycled from regular Prusament PLA and PETG, the filaments have many of the same high-quality characteristics, such as high-temperature resistance for the PETG and super easy printability for the PLA. On a similar note, you can find a few different print settings recommendations on Prusament’s website for each of the recycled filaments, which can help you improve the quality of your prints.

• Price: ~$23/kg ($45 for a 2-kg spool)
• Materials: PLA, PETG
• Diameter: 1.75 mm
• Colors: Varies by batch
• Tolerance: ±0.05 mm

Prusament PLA Recycled

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Closed Loop Plastics is a company that focuses on reducing the environmental footprint of 3D printing. They operate a few different plastic recovery facilities, and they even make their own upcycled 3D printing filament that’s made of recycled HIPS plastic material.

Known as “U-HIPS” – with the ‘U’ short for “upcycled”, this filament comes in both a 1.75 and a 2.85 mm diameter as well as two colors, including Nebula Black and Party Pink. The manufacturer states that the source HIPS plastic comes from recycled cups and lids, and is colored with some additives. As for printing this filament, Closed Loop Plastics has provided a few different settings recommendations, like a print speed of 20-50 mm/s.

• Price: ~$50/kg
• Material: HIPS
• Diameters: 1.75, 2.85 mm
• Colors: Party Pink, Nebula Black
• Tolerance: Not provided

Closed Loop Plastics U-HIPS

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3DJake is one of the most popular online retailers of 3D printing supplies, selling 3D printers, filaments, and accessories from many different manufacturers. They also make their own filaments, including rPLA, a filament that’s 100% recycled and sourced from the scraps of 3DJake’s ecoPLA filament. According to 3DJake, these scraps are organized by color and shredded into grains to be reused to make rPLA filament.

Although ecoPLA filament comes in 23 colors, rPLA is only available in 8, including orange, green, red, blue, white, and more. The reduced color options for the recycled filament are likely due to the lack of sufficient scraps in the other colors of ecoPLA.

As for printing, 3DJake states that rPLA is easy to print and will yield minimal shrinkage, making it great for printing dimensionally-accurate models. Unfortunately, some user reviews suggest otherwise, stating that prints in the filament came out very inaccurate. On another note, while 3DJake is based in Europe, they now offer free shipping to the US.

• Price: ~$25/kg
• Materials: PLA
• Diameters: 1.75 mm, 2.85 mm
• Colors: Blue, green, gray, red, white, black, silver, orange
• Tolerance: Not provided

3DJake rPLA

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FormFutura is a large manufacturer of high-quality filament and has partnerships with 3D printer companies such as UltiMaker. Their recycled filament line, ReForm, comes in a few different materials, including PLA, ABS, PETG, and more. They make their recycled filament by collecting, shredding, and compounding regular filament waste, then crystallizing and drying the recycled product.

ReForm filament comes in a variety of spool sizes and in two diameters: 1.75 and 2.85 mm. The range of available colors vary by material: rPET comes in 12 colors, while rPLA is available in 8.

In terms of printing, it’s recommended to use a nozzle size greater than 0.15 mm and print with a layer height larger than 0.1 mm. ReForm filament is warp-free, has excellent first layer adhesion, and even comes in sustainable packaging when shipped.

ReForm PLA has a five-star rating at Amazon, and customers have pointed out that the filament is spooled very well and prints just fine.

• Price: $17-$28/kg
• Materials: PLA, ABS, PETG, ASA
• Diameters: 1.75 mm, 2.85 mm
• Colors: Varies by material
• Tolerance: Not stated

FormFutura ReForm Recycled Filament

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GreenGate3D came out of the company Universal Composites and joined the 3D printing train in 2018 after recycling plastic for 24 years. They sell PETG recycled filament.

Their PETG filament has a tolerance of +/- 0.05 mm and is also made in the US. They offer over 30 different colors of PETG filament as well as recycled PETG pellets if you want to make your own filament. You can purchase their filament in a 1-kg or a 3-kg spool.

While the company didn’t recommend any printing settings, one customer affirmed that 210 °C works well for the hot end, and another customer said that 70 °C is an effective temperature for the print bed. Other buyers of their recycled PETG filament have also noted that it yields a sparkly and shiny finish.

• Price: $22-$40/kg
• Material: PETG
• Diameter: 1.75 mm
• Colors: 30+ options, including clear, translucent colors, and even marble
• Tolerance: ±0.05 mm

GreenGate3D Recycled PETG Filament

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Kimya is a professional filament manufacturer that sells all sorts of high-quality filaments from PLA and ABS to polycarbonate. They also work with UltiMaker to make pre-configured Cura slicer profiles for their filament.

Kimya manufactures recycled filament in a number of materials, including PLA, PETG, TPU, and HIPS. The first two consist of at least 95% recycled material, while the latter two are 100% made from recycled material. Kimya’s recycled filament comes in 1.75- and 2.85-mm diameters and, depending on the color, in spools of 750 g, 2.2 kg, and 4.5 kg.

PLA-R is sold in six different colors and has an impressive tolerance of just +/- 0.01 mm. It’s said to be odorless, have a glossy finish, and be easy to print with the pre-made Cura profile. They’ve provided many printing tips on their website, too, if you want to use another slicer.

• Price: $20-$53/kg
• Materials: PLA, TPU, PETG, HIPS
• Diameters: 1.75 mm, 2.85 mm
• Colors: Varies by material
• Tolerance: ±0.01 mm

Kimya Recycled PLA Filament

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Reflow is a company dedicated to reducing the footprint of plastics, and they’re doing this by developing recycled 3D printing filaments. They offer two different material options: rPLA and rPETG. The former is sourced from recycled PLA plastic from food packaging waste, and their rPETG filaments are sourced from locally-recycled PETG plastic.

Reflow also has a few different collections that organize their rPLA and rPETG filaments into categories according to color and surface finish. The Earth Tones collection includes a few matte colors of rPLA like blossom, eggshell, and cobalt, while the Seaglass collection offers rPETG in a few translucent color options like blue, green, and glow (yellow). Other collections include Clear & Natural, Pastel, and the Monochrome Range.

Their filaments usually come in 1.75 and 2.85-mm diameters on a 1-kg spool. Reflow is also super helpful in providing print settings for each line of filament. Their website lists recommended settings for temperatures, print speed, fan speed, retraction distance, and retraction speed for each filament.

• Price: $27-$35/kg
• Materials: PLA, PETG
• Diameters: 1.75 mm, 2.85 mm
• Colors: 24 colors, including clear, blossom, and cobalt
• Tolerance: Not provided

3D-Fuel is a manufacturer of a variety of filaments, like tough PLA, ABS, ASA, PETG, and more. Like many filament manufacturers, 3D-Fuel ends up with a lot of filament scraps as a by-product of their regular filament manufacturing processes. To reduce their environmental footprint and avoid throwing this excess plastic out, 3D-Fuel created ReFuel, a line of filament made out of their scraps from making their Standard PLA+ and Pro PLA+ filaments.

Currently, the two different versions of ReFuel (recycled Standard PLA+ and Pro PLA+) are out of stock, but 3D-Fuel also offers other environmentally-friendly filament options in their selection of composite filaments. For example, their Buzzed filament is sourced from beer waste byproducts, and Wound Up from coffee waste byproducts. 3D-Fuel states that these filaments are all over 90% more sustainable than regular PLA filaments.

It’s worth noting that ReFuel filament can come in a few different colors, but what color you receive isn’t known and varies by batch. Unfortunately, 3D-Fuel only offers this recycled filament in a 1.75-mm diameter in a 1-kg spool, which they mention is due to the limited scraps they have.

• Price: $18-$35/kg
• Materials: PLA, composites
• Diameters: 1.75 mm
• Colors: Varies by batch
• Tolerance: Not provided

Filamentive is a manufacturer and seller of recycled filament with different percentages of recycled content (e.g. 70% recycled plastic). They offer recycled filament in a wide range of materials, including composites such as wood and less common materials like ASA. They even have different finishes for their filaments, like matte and speckled.

Filamentive filament has a minimum tolerance of +/- 0.05 mm according to the manufacturer, and even though it’s recycled, there’s no loss of mechanical properties. They state that their filament is 97% round, too.

They ship their filaments in recyclable packaging, and the filament is on a cardboard spool, further pushing their recycling efforts. They offer filaments in a few different sizes, from sample sizes to 8.5 kg, and in 1.75-mm and 2.85-mm diameters.

One customer observed that the filament comes in a unique color selection and maintains a steady tolerance. The customer also mentioned that the filament has a lower melting temperature than most normal PLA filaments. Maker’s Muse reviewed the filament and stated that he ran into no printing issues and it yielded a nice, shiny finish.

• Price: $40-$89/kg
• Materials: PLA, ABS, PETG, ASA, carbon fiber PETG
• Diameters: 1.75 mm, 2.85 mm
• Colors: Varies by material
• Tolerance: ±0.05 mm

Re-pet 3D is another recycled filament producer committed to reducing plastic waste. The company started making recycled filaments after being inspired by the 3D Expo in Prague.

They shred and melt recycled plastic bottles, then extrude and wind the plastic to make each roll of filament. They offer recycled PLA and PETG filaments in a large range of colors.

One customer pointed out how precise the filament’s diameter is, which means that this filament has excellent tolerance. They offer specific printing tips for each material, too, including temperatures, speeds, nozzle size, and flow (extrusion multiplier).

• Price: $30-$34/kg
• Materials: PLA, PET, PETG
• Diameter: 1.75 mm
• Colors: Varies by material
• Tolerance: ±0.05 mm

Nefilatek is another company dedicated to making 3D printing filament without harming the environment and which started their journey on Kickstarter.

Nefilatek manufactures recycled filament in TPU and HIPS. The filament has a pretty average tolerance of +/- 0.05 mm and comes in a 1.75-mm diameter. Depending on color and material, you can purchase 500 g, 750 g, and 1 kg of filament.

Their HIPS filament is available for purchase in four different colors: blue, red, white, and black. 3DP Iceland mentioned in a review of the filament how the recycled black filament was very shiny and the prints it produced looked nice.

• Price: $20-$35/kg
• Materials: TPU, HIPS
• Diameter: 1.75 mm
• Colors: Natural and black in TPU, 10 colors in HIPS
• Tolerance: ±0.05 mm