About Us

Universal Composites woke up to the idea of 3D printing in October, 2018.

After 24 years of recycling plastics, and diverting MILLIONS of pounds from the landfill back into industry, we needed a new venture.

GreenGate3D was born.

Phil Silberfeld started Universal in July 1994 and grew the company from his and his wife Renee’s kitchen table, into a fully functional recycling facility. In December 1998, Rich Silberfeld, after a successful career in health care as a nursing home administrator and respiratory therapist, joined the team. Phil took ill in 2000, and passed away in February 2002, leaving a legacy of hard work and the key components to the company’s growth: communication, credit, and credibility. Rich took the mantle in mid-2001, and has been managing the company ever since.  In March 2010, Ray Brown, a partner at Plascal Corporation, independently contracted with Universal, giving the company an additional 40 years of plastics recycling experience. Previously, Plascal and Universal had recycled millions of pounds of PVC together, making their association a natural extension of growth.

Over the past 25 years, Universal has built recycling relationships with some of the largest names in plastics and in corporate America: Anheuser-Busch, Uniroyal Global, LG, Dekoron Wire and Cable (owned by Berkshire Hathaway), Armstrong Flooring, Teknor Apex… even the US Navy!

Thru it all, Universal has remained that little company, which started on that little kitchen table, building relationships thru continuous communication, strong credit and absolute credibility. You might find that hard to believe, but when you reach out to GreenGate3D, you’ll see that coming thru in spades.

Test Us And See.

GreenGate3D has grown immeasurably since our inception; onboard is Rich’s wife, Barbara, handling customer support and some new business direction.  Anytime you get super-speedy shipping, a personalized note and a GreenGate3D pen (made from, of course, recycled materials), that’s got Barbara’s doing written all over it.  She’s also our direct-line to Amazon, building out our sales platform, and is now coordinating large order freight purchases. Our part-timers include Ben Levine, a mechanical engineering student at Purdue responsible for printer consultation and Esteban Bedoya, our unbelievably talented 3D modeler, and first-rate website designer. 

GreenGate3D is PROUD to be your entryway to 100% recycled, 100% American-made 3D filament.  We ONLY use scrap plastics and we ONLY extrude those materials in the United States of America.

GreenGate3D: Recycling The World’s Plastics, One Filament At A Time.