Econyl

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The Hyundai Ioniq 5's floor mats are made from Econyl. Hyundai IONIQ 5 Prestige NE1 PE Black Onetone (8).jpg
The Hyundai Ioniq 5's floor mats are made from Econyl.

Econyl is brand name for recycled polyamide fabric introduced in 2011 by Italian company Aquafil. [2] It is made entirely from waste otherwise polluting the Earth, such as industrial discards, fabric scraps from clothing manufacturing companies, discarded carpets and fishing nets (mainly from the aquaculture industry). [3]

Contents

History

Aquafil
Founded1965 (1965)
Headquarters
Trento
,
Italy
Key people
Giulio Bonazzi (CEO)

Aquafil began nylon recycling in the 1990s, but did not begin exploration of a comprehensive nylon reuse cycle until 2007, which ultimately led to the development of Econyl Regeneration System and the associated closed-loop process in 2011. [4] [5] Commercial production of Econyl started the same year at Aquafil's plant in Slovenia. [6]

In 2025 the company opened a production line in Slovenia which can separate nylon fibers from elastane, based on a method developed in collaboration with Georgia Tech researchers. The recovered nylon will be fed into the Econyl production process. [7]

Production

Recycling involves breaking down the nylon polymer into monomers, and then re-polymerizing the nylon them into brand-new nylon; the breakdown process is done with temperature, steam and catalysts, in a renewable energy-driven process. [4] For every 10,000 tons of Econyl raw material produced, the company claims up to 70,000 barrels of crude oil are saved. [8] Further, the material can be continuously recycled without loss of quality. [9]

Use

The material has been used by Stella McCartney (handbag linings, backpacks, outerware, etc.), Kelly Slater's label Outerknown, Adidas and Speedo swimwear, Levi's, Breitling (watch straps), and many other brands from the fashion and interior industries. [2] [4] [10] [9] [11] It has also been used for trim, floor mats and as seat cover material by various automakers. [12] [13] [14]

References

  1. ↑ Angela (2022-12-19). "Hyundai's "Going Circular" with IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 car mats made with ECONYL® nylon | Econyl Blog". Econyl. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  2. 1 2 Ankeny, Jason (December 2015). "From Shredding to Recycling". Entrepreneur (Cover story). Vol. 43, no. 12. Irvine, California: Entrepreneur Media, Inc. pp. 52–3. Retrieved 26 June 2020– via Internet Archive.
  3. ↑ Letcher, Trevor (2020-03-10). Plastic Waste and Recycling: Environmental Impact, Societal Issues, Prevention, and Solutions. Academic Press. ISBN   978-0-12-817881-2.
  4. 1 2 3 Thomas, Dana (2019). Fashionopolis. New York: Penguin Random House (Penguin Press). pp. 200–2. ISBN   9780735224018.
  5. ↑ "Aquafil achieves nylon and elastane separation". www.innovationintextiles.com. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  6. ↑ Letcher, Trevor (2020-03-10). Plastic Waste and Recycling: Environmental Impact, Societal Issues, Prevention, and Solutions. Academic Press. ISBN   978-0-12-817881-2.
  7. ↑ "The Materials: How Aquafil aims to scale elastane-nylon separation process". the-spin-off.com. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  8. ↑ "The Process". Econyl. 2018-03-12. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  9. 1 2 Karthik T, Rathinamoorthy R (2017). "Sustainable synthetic fibre production". In Muthu SS (ed.). Sustainable Fibres and Textiles. The Textile Institute Book Series. Elsevier (Woodhead). p. 221. ISBN   978-0-08-102041-8 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Sangode PB, Metre SG (April 2019). "Green supply chain practices for environmental sustainability: A proposed framework for manufacturing firms". International Journal of Mechanical and Production Engineering Research and Development. 9 (2). Trans Stellar: 294 – via Internet Archive. Adidas has also created Parley swimwear, using recycled fishing nets up-cycled into a technical yarn fiber named Econyl, which offers the same properties as the regular nylon used to make swimwear.
  11. ↑ Taylor, Meggen (May 26, 2021). "Three Sustainable One-Piece Swimsuits That Seamlessly Go From The Beach To The Streets". Forbes .
  12. ↑ "Maserati Uses Aquafil Econyl Recycled Nylon". www.designnews.com. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  13. ↑ Williams, Abigail (2020-12-02). "Recycled materials in vehicle interiors". www.automotivemanufacturingsolutions.com. Retrieved 2025-07-21.
  14. ↑ Valladares Montemayor, Halia M.; Chanda, Rayyan Hamza (2023-08-01). "Automotive industry's circularity applications and industry 4.0". Environmental Challenges. 12: 100725. doi: 10.1016/j.envc.2023.100725 . ISSN   2667-0100.

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