Renew IT Turns Dead Computers Into 3D Printer Filament in Australia

From e-waste to extrusion

Sydney-based Renew IT has built something most recycling operations have not: a commercial-grade system that turns plastic from discarded electronics into 3D printer filament. Working with researchers at the University of New South Wales, the company operates what it calls a Plastics Filament MICROfactorie. The feedstock is ABS harvested from the casings of dead computers, printers, and consumer electronics that cannot be refurbished or resold.

The process starts with sorting. Renew IT breaks down e-scrap into its material streams. The ABS fraction goes through controlled heating and cooling cycles that transform it into pellets, and those pellets are then extruded into standard 1.75mm filament. The finished product is spooled and sold as a feedstock for FDM printers.

Researchers have been developing the technology since 2023. By 2024, the operation was producing roughly 200 filament spools per day. Small-scale commercial sales began in 2025. According to Renew IT, the program has already diverted tens of millions of pounds of e-scrap plastic from landfills.

Why ABS from electronics

ABS is the same material used in the casings of most desktop computers, laptops, and older 3D printers. It prints reliably, it is structurally sound, and it is one of the most common plastics in the waste stream. Turning it into filament is a direct reuse path that does not require the chemical recycling or depolymerisation steps that other plastic-to-filament operations depend on.

The alternative for most e-scrap is downcycling into lower-grade plastic products or shipping it overseas for processing. Renew IT is trying to create a local, higher-value outcome. The filament is produced in Australia for Australian buyers, replacing imported spool stock with a domestically sourced equivalent.

The market opportunity

Global 3D printing filament sales are estimated at $1.5 billion today, with projections putting the market at $7.1 billion by 2033. A fraction of that volume made from recycled feedstock would represent a meaningful shift in where the material comes from.

Renew IT is not the only company working on e-scrap filament. Canadian company Nefilatek has run a similar operation using recycled ABS and PLA from consumer sources. What distinguishes Renew IT is scale, industrial partnerships, and an explicit supply-chain narrative: this is not just green marketing, it is a domestic manufacturing response to a waste problem.

The company is currently evaluating whether it can expand production to profitability at commercial scale. The economics depend on feedstock cost, processing efficiency, and whether customers will pay a premium for filament with a documented recycled content claim. If those numbers work, the model could be replicated in other markets with large e-waste streams and local 3D printing communities.

The bigger context

E-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the developed world. The UN estimates that roughly 50 million tonnes of e-waste are generated globally each year, with less than 20 percent formally recycled. Plastics make up a significant fraction of that mass, and ABS casings are among the most durable and least biodegradable components.

Converting e-waste ABS into filament does not solve the entire problem, but it targets a specific, well-understood waste stream with a product that has a clear market. The filament does not require any change to the way printers operate. Users can load it the same way they would load any other ABS spool. The performance characteristics are close to virgin ABS, with the practical trade-offs that recycled materials always carry: slightly more variable diameter, occasional discoloration, batch-to-batch differences that matter for precise engineering work but disappear in hobbyist prints.

If Renew IT and similar operations can reach consistent commercial scale, recycled filament moves from novelty to commodity. That is a useful outcome for both the waste problem and the cost of 3D printing materials.