3D printing is an incredibly cool technology, but I've always been all about the plastic. Giving people the tools and power to create at home, like this printed Cities: Skylines square (opens in new tab) or this handy adaptive controller (opens in new tab). But it could increase plastic waste.

That's why it's always exciting to see people working on 3D printing with more sustainable materials. We've seen printers that can make amazing shapes out of delicious chocolate (open in new tab), and we've heard of the promise of ceramics printed from waste (open in new tab). Now, watch as one thrifty artisan creates a foldable Raspberry Pi case from a plastic bottle right before your eyes.

Function.3d on TikTok has a video of the project, with a soothing back-instrument by Mozart. The video shows the entire process, starting with what looks like a very ordinary large green plastic bottle. From this bottle to a small computer case, there is quite a bit of work involved, as the 3:41 minute video demonstrates.

The first step is to heat the plastic bottle over a fire and rub it vigorously with solvent. Once that is done, the bottom is cut off and is never heard from again. Since the bottles are often made of thick plastic, this part may be difficult to process. Cut a slit in the remaining bottle, make a small strip of plastic, and pull it through the rig by hand. This will turn the rest of the bottle into a long, thin strip of plastic, but not yet a filament.

The strip is then attached to another machine that appears to heat and form the strip. This essentially has to be pulled by hand, but after the initial set-up, it appears that the machine can be left to do this and the thread can be loosely wound onto a large bobbin.

However, this bobbin is not sufficient, so the new filament is transferred to another bobbin and loaded into the 3D printing machine. Now a small case for the Raspberry Pi has been 3D printed. Furthermore, no new plastic was needed for this small project.

Watching this video gave me the distinct impression that this process takes a lot of time and effort, and Function.3D has a large amount of information about the process, including a tutorial in their FAQ (opens in a new tab). opens in a new tab) with a large amount of information about the process, including a tutorial. They clearly state that they are not the first to try this process and that they have worked hard to create this design thanks to inspiration from other projects.