Compostable or Biodegradable(100% PHA) New Year's 2024 Party Glasses

Introduction:

Don't worry about the after party with these New Year's 2024 party glasses. They are made using 100% PHA that is known to biodegradable and compost better PLA which needs specific industrial compost conditions to be met in order to compost.  This design using 100% PHA is meant for home composting, etc.. 

The objective is to throw these glasses away in my home compost, bury them around my farm as a little experiment and HOPEFULLY these 3D printed parts do NOT see the light of first day of 2025 as they will have composted or biodegraded beyond recognition!

By design, I tried to maxmize the amount of surface area exposed to aid it the composting or biodegradation while maintaining a certain design aesthetic. I did this by removing the top and bottom solid layers and using lower infill with a honeycomb pattern.  Also tried to minimize the weight to try to decrease the degradation time.

I used Beyond Plastic Standard 100% white PHA filament:

https://beyondplastic.com/collections/standard-pha-3d-printer-filament

Note, I wish I would have gotten a more of a PARTY color other than white to make it POP. Oh, well.  

No secondary materials, etc.. are needed and only opertion needed is to bend the sides of the glasses inward, this is aided by a stess concentrator designed into the glasses. No fussing with placing pin joints, etc…  Saves you more time…. to you know, PARTY. 

Design Related Print Setup:

• Large format printer is needed, such as a Prusa XL.  The print is printed flat.
• 100% PHA filament
  • I have working Prusaslicer settings for it BUT they are far from optimized. PHA is just getting out there so learning is rapid. MY SETTING ARE FAR from perfect and you may need to adjust.
• PrusaSlicer - Solid Layers:
  • Top = 0
  • Bottom =0
• Infill = 25%
• Infill Pattern = Honeycomb
• I can fit a quanity of 3 on an XL plate at a time. You know to share with friends! The 3mf is only for a single. You can adjust as needed.

Assembly:

After printing remove the print from the print bed and bend the each side appoximated 180 degree as show. After spring back it should be an approx 90 degree angle.  That is it.

Use:

Place them on your head…… and party it up. But not too much partying, stay safe.

Disposal:

After the party or parties, throw them in your active compost, bury them, etc..  Let mother nature do its work.  Just like anything, composting time may vary and is dependant on a lot of factors such as humidity, temperature, microbial population, etc.. So, hot dry places may take longer that wet hot places, etc…

After celbrating the New Year, I am going to throw it into my compost pile and bury a few glasses around the farm and monitor their degradation. I don't expect much at first due to the fact that it is winter right now but I anticipate by spring the rate of composting and biodegration will increase.  I will keep a few as controls. I will edit this, document the progress.

UPDATE - 2023JAN03

I tied 4 of the party glasses to some PP baling twine and placed them in a newly started compost pile.  Horse manure, with alternating layers of timothy hay, and wet leaves.  Then I soaked the pile with around 15 gallons of water. I don't expect much over the next couple of months because it is winter.  I probably won't remove them out until April and even then I am not expecting much if any change. I think you will see a bunch of degradation from the months of March through October here in Utah, USA. This is a longterm test that I am going to keep going until atleast January 2025.  I have 1 control and 1 other that I tied up to my pasture fence. 

Party glasses strung up.

Party Glasses placed on pile.

Finished pile. The party glasses are on the bottom ⅓ of the pile.

Conclusion:

After the party….enjoy the rest New Year by composting these party glasses! Everyone stay safe out there and Happy New Year's!

Future Improvements:

• Design a version that can be snapped together to reduce the size of the printer bed needed but is still robust enough to….. PARTY!
• Release the Onshape file to allow for remixing(I need to clean up the feature tree, comment, etc…).
• Any feedback is much appreciated, thanks.