Textile Recycling Technologies, Colouring and Finishing Methods

Toray 
74
 
(Japan) 
Nylon 6 
Post-industrial 
textile waste 
Discarded fishing 
nets 
Reycyclon™ yarn 
(Patagonia) 
Mechanical recycling process for off-spec 
yarns generated from their virgin nylon 
production process.
CO
2
reduction: 80% 
Unifi 
75
 
(USA) 
Nylon 6 
Post-industrial textile 
waste 
PREPREVE® Nylon 
Filament fibre 
Proprietary chip extrusion and texturizing 
process. 

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Textile Recycling Technologies, Colouring and Finishing Methods | Le 
22 
 
Table 7: Nylon - Chemical Recycling Stakeholders 
Company 
Feedstock/Input, 
Requirements 
Product/Output 
Processes 
Aquafil 
76
 
(Italy) 
Nylon 6 
Post-industrial and post-
consumer (used apparel) 
textile waste, fishing 
nets, carpets, delivered in 
bales. Must be 100% 
nylon materials, no 
prohibited substances 
Econyl® Yarn 
(70% recycled nylon, 
30% virgin fibre) for 
use in carpet flooring 
and textiles 
The ECONYL® closed-loop 
process includes collection and 
sorting of feedstock, caprolactam 
monomer recovery by 
depolymerization, and 
subsequent polymerization to 
nylon of equivalent quality to the 
petroleum derivative. 
Hyosung 
77
 
(South Korea) 
Nylon 6
Post-consumer 
fishing nets, safety nets, 
nylon rope, waste yarn 
and chips 
Mipan Regen™ Yarn 
(50% recycled nylon), 
as fine as 20 denier 
Properties: excellent 
dyeing uniformity, 
tenacity, finer denier, 
finer denier per 
filament 
Mixed mechanical and chemical 
process. Process includes 
impurity removal from feedstock, 
continuous recycling process, 
with the recycled nylon chip for 
made from recaptured 
caprolactam.