• Los Angeles-based startup Azure is using recycled plastic to 3D print prefab homes.

• The startup is now selling several models ranging from a backyard studio to a two-bedroom ADU.

• Azure says it can build homes 70% faster and 30% cheaper than "traditional home construction methods."

Why "reduce, reuse, recycle" when you can just turn your plastic waste into homes?

This may sound like a far-fetched idea, but that's exactly what one 3D printing home construction startup in Los Angeles is trying to do.

In April, Azure unveiled what it called the world's first 3D printed "backyard studio" made with recycled plastic materials.

Source: Azure

And its plastic-printed studios and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are now available for preorder as the startup prepares to ramp up its production line in the Culver City neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Most 3D printing home builders currently use a form of concrete to create their homes, whether it be a proprietary mix or pure concrete.

Source: Insider, Insider

But Azure is saying goodbye to this drab grey look by taking a more sustainable approach …

… giving a second life to plastic once destined for landfills or incineration.

Over 60% of Azure's printing material will use the inherently waterproof plastic polymer often found in plastic bottles and packaging for food, according to the startup.

Source: Azure

It's currently working with three suppliers to source "post-industrial plastic" for its printing mix, Ross Maguire, who cofounded Azure to make construction more efficient and sustainable, told Insider.

But in the future, the goal is to use post-consumer plastic: "Our supply chain should never be short in our lifetime," he said.

Even without the use of recycled plastic, the nascent 3D printing homebuilding industry has already been heralded as a more sustainable and efficient construction method.

According to its biggest proponents, by using printers instead of people, homes can be built more efficiently using less waste, materials, and time.