TheBARBARA项目（具有高级功能的生物聚合物，用于建筑和汽车零件，通过增材制造处理）concluded four years of researchinto developing new 3D printable materials from food waste and agricultural by-products.
A total of eight new bio-based materials were successfully produced throughout the project, which were used to 3D print prototypes for the construction and automotive sectors.
现在，芭芭拉项目协调员和化学工程师Marta Redrado NotivoliAitiip Technology Center(AITIIP), tells 3D Printing Industry how the project aims to scale up this work to eventually secure industrial investment.
Key learnings from the project
To create the 3D printable materials, natural dyes, bio-mordants, antimicrobials, and essential oils were extracted from pomegranate, lemon, almond shell, and corn through microwave-assisted extraction and other processes, such as the use of supercritical water.
“We learned how to process those compounds, together with commercial biopolymers, in order to obtain new polymeric materials used in advanced manufacturing processes with the properties required for application in the automotive and construction sectors,” explained Redrado.
The resulting materials underwent high temperatures, water cooling treatments, and material binding and reinforcing to create filament spools suitable for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). The 3D printing process was optimized for the bio-materials through the development of a heading device to improve layer adhesion during printing, therefore enhancing the mechanical properties of the final prototypes. A double nozzle 3D printer was used to control all parameters of the process.
“In total, three types of prototypes were manufactured during the project; door trims and fascia for cars, and molds for truss joints for buildings,” Redrado continued. “Six materials were tested for the automotive prototypes, four in the fascia and two in the trim, in order to showcase the different textures, colors, and functionalities achieved through the project’s technology.”
同时，测试了两种材料以构建整体模具，目的是实现高热机械性能，以承受结的生产需求。开发了整体关节概念是为了简化复合材料中使用的复杂结的制造过程，这种方法由于该部分的复杂几何形状而以前未经验证。
Significance of the project’s achievements
这项为期四年的项目汇集了11个不同的合作伙伴，他们提供了生物技术，纳米技术，高级材料和高级制造技术方面的各种专业。
“The BARBARA project has contributed to create two new value chains, as well as to the development of an innovative and forward-looking modern industry with the potential to revolutionize the production of new materials,” said Redrado. “An industry more in tune with the environment, and where new and more environmentally friendly extractive processes are implemented.”
现在，该项目已正式结束，Redrado认为下一步是获得一个演示项目，该项目将使合作伙伴能够将其流程扩展到半工业级别。为了实现这一目标，项目团队制定了一项业务计划，以证明该过程的可行性。
“The final step would be a flagship project with industrial investment to reach the market and society to make circular bio-economy a reality,” said Redrado. “We need programs like the next Horizon Europe and Green Deal as well as associations like基于生物的行业联合业务（BBI JU）可以推动法规和标准化。”
作为一种资源的浪费
根据Redrado的说法，像Barbara这样的项目表明，废物可能是一种资源。通过使用3D打印机，产品设计人员能够从源自废物的各种材料中打印零件和组装集，这些材料具有不同的机械和物理性能。到目前为止，该倡议为生物经济和循环经济欧洲框架内的相关行业的增长做出了贡献。
To make this fully scalable, though, Redrado believes five ‘pillars’ are needed: innovation, education, synergies, investment opportunities, and financing.
她说：“借助芭芭拉这样的项目，我们离真正的循环经济更近了，但需要采取其他步骤。”“我们需要基于芭芭拉研发技能的法规，标签，政策，法律框架，标准化以及工作概况的产生。
“我们不仅需要资金，而且还需要资源来实现真正的循环生物经济。”
实现全球循环经济
There are various other initiatives currently underway to develop closed-loop manufacturing processes that reuse and repurpose waste materials. The circular economy is a notion that seeks to make optimum use of resources in order to avoid waste. An想象2050年report byVeolia建议食品和饮料，制造业和化学工业，具有减少浪费并产生新的收入来源的巨大潜力。
Aside from BARBARA, other examples of repurposing food waste for additive manufacturing processes include replacing petroleum-based PET with bioplasticsderived from coffee powder and orange peel并将食物浪费转换为biodegradable PHAs。
Meanwhile, in the construction sector, Italian 3D printer manufacturerWASP3D printed一个生态房屋with a material mixture made up of local soil and natural waste materials.
Most recently, advanced materials specialist6kwas awarded a Phase Two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program from theU.S. Defense Logistics Agency(DLA) to commercialize adomestic closed-loop supply chainproducing high-performancemetal powders from scrap sources。6K将使用其专有的微波等离子平台Unimelt来源和收回镍超合金报废组件，并将其转换为航空级粉末。
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Featured image shows the fascia prototype by AITIIP. Materials used (left to right): lemon pigment, lemon fragrance, almond shell, pomegranate pigment. Photo via BARBARA.
