3d systems 401395 01 polylactic acid pla tan pla polylactic acid is probably the easiest material to work with when you39re first starting out with 3d printing pla is a biodegradable thermoplastic that has been derived from renewable resources like corn starch and sugar cane this makes pla environmentally friendly and very safe to work with pla also has a very sharp glass transition point so if you use a fan to cool it it will set into a solid very quickly pla can achieve a gr