Hosted at the Bristol and Bath Science Park on 23 November, the West of England Green 50 brought together companies and individuals to celebrate businesses that strive to have only a positive impact on our planet. Among those recognised were financial technology business Computershare whose headquarters are based in Bristol, waste management solutions company GENeco and renewable energy specialists Solarsense.
“It’s up to us to ensure that our effect on the planet is a positive one”
Also recognised by the Green 50 was OmniDynamics, a Bristol-based company using robotics to turn everyday plastic waste into material that can be used by 3D printers. The team’s unusual approach to solving a real problem and their determination to adopt green values into their product design, shipping, packaging and manufacturing saw the company awarded Green Pioneer in the Field of 3D Printing.
We caught up with the OmniDynamics team after the event, and they feel that the future of 3D printing lies in “empowering everyone to be more sustainable and unlocking the value in the plastic”.
Pioneering towards a green future
David Graves, OmniDynamics CEO, is pleased to be recognised amongst such impressive companies: “Green values are important because each of us can affect our planet and every living thing on it, including other humans. It’s up to us to ensure that our effect on the planet is a positive one.”
“It is fantastic to see that the green approach is being championed in the West of England…”
Operations Manager Stephen Lloyd agrees with David. He tells us, “It is the responsibility of all of us to take care of our planet, and especially our responsibility as businesses, and it is fantastic to see that the green approach is being championed in the West of England. I feel privileged to be included with other great companies pioneering towards a green future.”
Sustainable 3D printing
In 2014 OmniDynamics launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money needed to create Strooder, a 3D-printing filament maker. This innovative piece of technology enables the user to turn plastic pellets into the thin single strip of solid plastic, called filament, that is used in 3D printing. The versatility of Strooder means you can have a greater range of affordable filament colours while saving waste materials from landfill sites.
But it doesn’t stop there. “Strooder is just the first step in helping to recognise our dream of ‘material not waste'” Stephen explains, with OmniDynamics’ Web Manager J-A adding: “I think we will continue striving to create technology that empowers people to be more self-sustainable.”
Right now, it is all about ‘delivered tomorrow’ – in the future, it will be ‘printed now’
As 3D printing becomes ever more present, OmniDynamics is keen to ensure that the technology is environmentally friendly. When asked if he thought everyone would eventually own a 3D printer Stephen responds: “Without a doubt.” J-A stresses how pivotal robotics technology will be to the development of 3D printing, and how important it is that there is a material-efficient method of rapidly creating and customising 3D-printed products.
OmniDynamics will be giving a short talk at the Gregg Latchams’ Tech Social on 7 December and are often at TechSPARK events where they are more than happy to talk about how they are radically changing the ecological footprint of our plastic waste.
To learn more about OmniDynamics and to sign up to their newsletter, head over to the Omnidynamics website. Why not follow them on Twitter too?
Image credit: OmniDynamics
