What is ECONYL® ?
ECONYL®, created by Italian firm Aquafil, uses synthetic waste such as industrial plastic, waste fabric, and fishing nets from oceans, then recycles and regenerates them into a new nylon yarn that is exactly the same quality as virgin nylon.
This regeneration system focuses on 6 steps that form a closed loop which uses less water and creates less waste than traditional nylon production methods. Waste is collected, then cleaned and shredded, depolymerised to extract nylon, polymerised, transformed into yarn, and then re-commercialised into textile products.
How can it help?
ECONYL® is a way to recycle and replace virgin nylon in our everyday products and clothes. Traditional production methods for nylon are not eco-friendly, they require huge amounts of water and produce a hefty amount of nitrous oxide, which is 10 times more potent than carbon dioxide. What’s more, nylon is not biodegradable, and it is estimated that up 40% of man made plastic waste in the oceans are nylon.
THE PROCESS
PROCESS BEHIND THE BREAKTHROUGH MATERIAL.
RESCUE, ECONYL® regeneration system starts with rescuing waste, like fishing nets, fabric scraps, carpet flooring and industrial plastic all over the world. That waste is then sorted and cleaned to recover all of the nylon possible.
REGENERATE, Through a radical regeneration and purification process, the nylon waste is recycled right back to its original purity. That means ECONYL® regenerated nylon is exactly the same as virgin nylon.
REMAKE, ECONYL® regenerated nylon is processed into yarns and polymers for the fashion and interior industries.
REIMAGINE, The beauty of ECONYL® regenerated nylon is that it has the potential to be recycled infinitely, without ever losing its quality.
In order to produce Econyl, a collection of fabric scraps and waste undergoes a complex chemical process that breaks down the fabric fibres into their molecular state. Once the collection of fabric has been reduced to monomers, it is heated, pushed out a metal spinneret and spun around a type of spool. The fibres then undergo a stretching process to increase their strength and elasticity, are spun into thread then treated and dyed. After this process, the Econyl yarn is ready to be woven into environmentally-friendly fabric for our dk active apparel.