In-Situ Conversion of Mission Packaging Waste into Additive ManufacturingFeedstocks for Lunar Bases

As lunar missions transition from sporadic trips to persistent ground operations under the Artemis and the International Lunar Decade fundamentally changes the arrival and handling of cargo at the Moon's surface. All replenishment shipments encompass foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, and testing materials, each arriving with packaging: lightweight polyethylene bags, PET-aluminum-LDPE (PAL) trilaminates, biaxially oriented polypropylene films, HDPE
containers, ZOTEK foam insulation, and Mylar/BoPET protective sheeting. Under current paradigms, this constitutes non-metabolic solid waste with no disposal pathway short of Earth return. We argue this framing is incorrect: these materials represent a secondary feedstock stream arriving at the lunar surface pre-sorted and in known quantities.
This work presents a framework for integrating mission packaging waste into the lunar construction and manufacturing supply chain through three complementary routes. First, LDPE and other thermoplastics can be compounded with lunar regolith simulant (up to 30 wt%) to produce filaments suitable for fused filament fabrication (FFF), yielding composite parts with improved overhang performance, reduced warpage, and maintained tensile strength relative to pure-polymer prints. Second, food containers with multiple layers can be processed via thermochemical conversion to gasification that sets fire to polymer layers and isolates Al 1235 foil as a solid product; this recovered metal is compatible with bound metal deposition (BMD)
additive manufacturing for structural hardware. Third, heterogeneous plastic waste subjected to pyrolysis yields carbon char and gaseous hydrocarbons that can improve regolith-binder mixtures or serve as chemical feedstocks.
Cryogenic night temperatures can be used to embrittle packaging polymers and foams, enabling low-energy cryo-grinding into fine powder feedstock without mechanical milling infrastructure.
Conversely, the diurnal thermal swing and boosted solar energy exposure during Moon day furnish the required warmth for sulfur retrieval from troilite (FeS), sulfur-based regolith concrete formation at 130-140°C, and sintering of regolith-based ceramic components. Together, these pathways offer a closed-loop model in which cargo packaging is not a waste stream but an anticipated construction input, timed to mission cadence. We present a materials inventory
model linking typical 30-day crew mission packaging manifests to projected AM feedstock yields, and discuss integration with regolith-based sulfur concrete and geopolymer binder systems for habitat construction. The thermal processing windows unique to specific lunar latitudes and the implications for base siting are also discussed. This work contributes to the quantitative case for lunar circular economy design at the mission planning stage, rather than as
an afterthought.
Keywords: Lunar ISRU, Packaging Waste, Additive Manufacturing, Recycling