What about a pre-extruder or a set (or pultruder?) that brings it to just below the glass transition temp, but still at the original filament size? Water boils off, plastic is left!
Most optical fiber is 125um of glass with 250um coating. The coating and the jacketing that make up the cable (mostly non-recyclable plastic) are the real problem.
I think part of the problem is that it is very dependent on what the invention is. Yeah, for some nicknack, that's a reasonable time frame. But for some kind of massive project, where distribution, complicated supply chains, and many people are involved, this time gets eaten up quick. Imagine you have an invention, thats totally cool, but 10 years of your time is taken up trying to make it at scale to make it profitable? Meanwhile, someone else can establish all those things without breaking patent, and go to market as your patent closes. You aren't wrong, its just not always so simple.
What about a pre-extruder or a set (or pultruder?) that brings it to just below the glass transition temp, but still at the original filament size? Water boils off, plastic is left!