The advent of laser metal additive manufacturing (LMAM) unlocked a new phase in materials development and fabrication, where physical phenomenon in the melt-pool and Marangoni convection enables finer control of the material microstructure and physical properties. While these advantages make LMAM very attractive, there are various drawbacks to using metallic 'loose' powder  such as health hazards, difficulty in switching materials and recyclability. An approach to mitigate some of these disadvantages is the innovation of a novel polymer-metal composite, where metal powder is tightly packed with a polymer binder. This novel feedstock is produced via solvent casting, and sintered layer-by-layer similar to traditional LMAM process. Recent research has proved great potential in this approach, delivering promising efficiencies in LMAM and enhanced material characteristics in materials such as 304SS and high-entropy-alloys. This work will show how the selection of polymer binder can produce materials with a range of mechanical properties. Work will also be presented on a novel laser debinding approach using the polymer-metal composite. This work will cover a thorough investigation utilizing in-situ melt pool analysis combined with microstructural EBSD and XRD. In addition to increasing manufacturing efficiencies, this innovation has the potential to produce functionally gradient parts and enhanced coatings without the requirement of 'loose powder'.