Japanese textile firms, Itochu and Aquafil have collaborated to expand their circular nylon production business. Both companies will work towards recovery of nylon waste and development, production, and sale of Econyl nylon products. Econyl Regeneration System was created by Aquafil In 2011. The system turns recovered nylon waste such as fishing nets, carpets and post-industrial waste back to caprolactam (CPL), a crude raw material. Through its proprietary chemical recycling technology, Aquafil eliminates impurities completely, to achieve regenerated nylon product having the same features of the virgin quality materials.
Econyl nylon has been adopted as an environmentally friendly material by more than 2,000 brands around the world. In the fashion industry, it has received strong support from major fashion brands including Burberry, Gucci, and Prada, Itochu said in a media statement.
Itochu is a dealer of CPL and nylon chips, the raw materials of nylon. The utilization of Itochu’s nylon value chain corresponded the direction of Aquafil’s Econyl business, resulting in the purpose of this partnership. Moving forward, Itochu will leverage on its group’s diverse network and expand sales for applications in fashion, carpeting, automobiles, and packaging materials. Itochu also plans to enforce Aquafil’s nylon waste recovery scheme using its existing sales chain and will also implement the partnership from the perspective of the stable supply of raw materials to Aquafil.
