Lyman’s technique is basically a smaller version of what is already used to make filament (plastic “wire” that the 3D printer uses). The off the shelf wire product is made from the same pellets and the large scale production of that wire is much less costly than producing it on a DIY (especially if with factor in time and training). The basic problem is lack of competition among large scale producers of filament. From what I’ve heard there is only one major supplier in the US that the different stores all buy it from.
What we should hope for, though, is that recycling plants will in the future be able to produce filament for local use.
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