5 Conclusions
This study has developed a recycling code model capable of expansion as more complex 3-D printing materials are developed. In addition, this study developed and tested the OpenSCAD scripts necessary to implement the system at the prosumer level as recycling symbols are printed into products. The use of this functionality was demonstrated in a wide selection of products, polymer materials and mechanisms to be suitable for most applications. Future work outlining the software changes to make this system widespread by lateral scaling was provided. In addition, to help both these distributed recycling system and the conventional centralized recycling paradigm, policy suggestions were outlined to align the societal and environmental outcomes with economic incentives for corporations. Overall the results showed that a far larger resin code identification system can be adopted in the U.S. to expand distributed recycling of polymers and manufacturing of plastic-based 3-D printed products.