I just bin them. there isn’t much more I can do as if I did use a recyclable material the recycling centres would not be able to identify the material easily (no markings on them eg PET, PLA etc) and it would still end in landfills or somewhere else to be dumped.

The environmental side of our hobby is a worry for me, from the plastic sprues that cant be recycled (not easily) through to 3D printing, I think as hobbyists we tend to brush it aside as a necessity for our enjoyment much the same as any other hobby does, take motoring enthusiasts for example.

Plastic-wise, as the hard plastic sprues cannot be recycled (at least locally) I put these in the bin, alongside failed prints from my filament printer. Better than putting them, in the plastic waste where they will just get shipped abroad if its no an accepted type or identifiable.

While not ideal I do know that all my local general waste goes to the Local Energy Recovery facility, we closed our landfill sites several years ago. Basically, the waste gets burned, the energy from this is used for the district heating system in the city center alongside power being generated. So while not perfect this at least reduces the number of fossil fuels that would otherwise be used. So from a hard plastic and filament point of view, I feel I’m doing the best I can, much better than the waste sitting in a landfill site.

What worries me much more about 3D printing is the resins, these are highly toxic to the environment with basically no regulation, I was mortified when @johnlyons mentioned rinsing “water washable” resin under the tap and down the sink, that’s going straight into the environment. For this I put the blame mostly on the Chinese companies that are making and pushing these printers and their marketing, they simply want to produce and sell more products any way they can, there’s very little solidly reliable educational material on how these substances should be handled and the marketing around “water washable” is very missleading.

The environmental side is a thing and it’s going to more of a thing in this industry. Years ago FFG’s practice of putting every little item in its own little plastic bag is what first got me to rethink. Having collected a removal box full of GW sprues from 2-years worth of building GW kits made me re-access things to. No I am not going to stop by miniatures overnight, my main projects I will see through to their conclusion. But I do think twice if I think I need something new. That is also a reason I don’t back the large KS games even if I wouldn’t mind playing the odd one – once.

It is one of the major reasons I did not get a PLA printer and while I did get a SLA printer I am conscious of the waste it creates, try to limit it and split up what I can.

In the UK recycling is very patchy in different areas. Where I live they will only take plastic bottle. ALL other plastic, even if marked as recyclable, goes in the household waste to either be incinerated or to land fill.

Our hobby has a BIG problem with waste. A company like GW, which manufactures in the UK and has stores, could set up a return system for GW marked sprue plastic. This is not really practical for other companies.

Most manufacturers COULD reduce or alter packaging to be more environmentally friendly. As nobody talks about this there is not pressure to get it done, unless governments actually tax single use plastic heavily or outright ban it.

The entire hobby is about pushing new plastic products. There is no incentive to discuss this issue. 3D printing, if done at hubs, could help reduce waste. Home printing is just adding to the problem as people will print more than they need, and won’t have facilities to recycle waste.

I completly agree that large companies should have to accept returned used sprues, GW are the best placed having physical stores. How exactly that might work I guess needs identifying and would the offset of return shipping negate any impact?

I guess another challenge is how recycable are plastic sprues, I doubt they could be using again in the same process so would probably have to go into products using recycled material? Similar case for metal minis, the metal is perfectly recycable, thats how the material is used for casting but you do end up with various bits from spruegates here and there.

Interstingly when Victrix moved away from boxed packaging to plastic bags I think they stated the environmental impact being part of the reasoning. That potentiall makes sense, theres a lot of effort going into carboard, box production, printing and then for many the plastic wrapping (which is unecessary).

I’m sure the amount of waste from the hobby is miniscule compared to, say, single use packaging for take out.