Barriers to Additive Manufacturing Implementation in Plastic Waste Management – A Case Study from a Developing Economy

The advances in additive manufacturing (AM) help the recycling, redesign, and reuse of waste plastics, enabling circular economy supply chains and business ecosystems. Distributed Recycling through Additive Manufacturing (DRAM) is a technique for recycling waste plastics using mechanical processes for AM. Even though these integrated concepts enable a new path to recycle waste plastics, there are numerous barriers to their implementation, especially in developing economies. The ten barriers to implementing DRAM for waste plastic recycling were finalized through the use of a literature review and the Delphi technique. To determine the contextual relationship between the barriers, the Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM) technique was used. A case study was carried out to investigate the barriers to implementing AM in plastic waste management in a developing economy. The interrelationship among barriers was investigated and barrier prioritization was performed. The findings from the case study reveal that the lack of flexibility to implement circular economy (CE) goals is one of the main barriers to implementing AM in plastic waste management. Findings from this study provide insights for industry practitioners and policymakers in developing a strategy to implement AM in plastic waste management.