“SUSTAINABILITY IS NOT
A GOAL TO BE REACHED
BUT A WAY OF THINKING,
A WAY OF BEING, A PRINCIPLE
WE MUST BE GUIDED BY.
GIULIO BONAZZI – CHAIRMAN, AQUAFIL GROUP
Imagine you could turn old waste into something brand new and
beautiful. The ECONYL® brand does just this: we turn nylon waste into
prime material for industrial manufacturing.
As we all know waste is a byproduct of any industrial production.
What if we could somehow turn this concept upside down? Exactly this
is our idea: We reduce the amount of waste on the globe by collecting
it from landfills and oceans and feeding it back into production cycles.
As people working for the ECONYL® brand we invest our commitment,
determination and skill to make these dreams, ideas and values come
true. By that we create processes and products that help make tomorrow
a better place to live. A place, where industrial production goes hand
in hand with respect for the environment. A place, where sustainable
technologies, processes and products with low environmental impact
dominate the landscape of global markets.
THE
ECONYL®
Regeneration System
AN INTELLIGENT AND SUSTAINABLE WAY
TO CREATE PRODUCTS FROM WASTE IN
A CONTINUOUS LOOP.
THE ECONYL® REGENERATION SYSTEM CONSISTS
OF SIX PRODUCTION STEPS THAT FORM A
CLOSED LOOP.
AJDOVSCINA, SLOVENIA (EU)
LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA (EU)
1 ECONYL®
Waste Rescue
WORLD-WIDE POLYAMIDE WASTE RESCUE
The ECONYL® reclaiming program is the first step of the ECONYL® Regeneration System. Nylon waste is collected in different areas
around the world. It is sent to the ECONYL® waste collection and treatment center, based in Ajdovščina, Slovenia. From there it is
forwarded to the nearby regeneration plant located in Ljubljana.
The pre-consumer waste we collect includes production discards, industrial
plastic components and oligomers.
Our supply chains that provide post-consumer waste are becoming more and
more important. We collect products at the end of their life cycle, fishing nets,
fabrics as well as fluff from carpet flooring.
Currently we reclaim waste throughout Canada (British Columbia), USA, Greece,
Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Thailand and Norway and we are constantly exploring
new opportunities.
In 2011 and
2012 we have
removed
16,000 tons
of waste.
2 ECONYL®
WASTE PREPARATION
AJDOVSCINA, SLOVENIA (EU)
STORAGE AND PREPARATION OF WASTE
Ajdovščina, near Ljubljana is the place where the collected waste begins its journey back to its origins. In this waste treatment
center the different types of waste are cleaned and prepared for depolymerization. As part of the cleaning process, foreign
materials other than nylon 6 - such as organic, plastic or metallic materials - are removed and sent to other supply chains. The
cleaned nylon waste is shredded, compacted, bagged, and transported to the ECONYL® regeneration plant in Ljubljana.
We started the production of ECONYL® material in 2011 with 70%
pre-consumer waste and 30% post-consumer waste.
At the end of 2012, the percentage of post consumer content has
reached up to 40%. We continue to increase this ratio, so that in
near future we will produce ECONYL® material from 100% postconsumer waste.
TARGET:
100% POSTCONSUMER WASTE
ARE TREATED IN OUR PLANT
THE WORLD IS FREED OF
1,000
1,000
TONS OF PA6 MONTHLY
TONS OF WASTE
3 ECONYL®
DEPOLYMERIZATION
LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA (EU)
THE ECONYL® DEPOLYMERIZATION PLANT
At the heart of the ECONYL® Regeneration System stands a miracle: the ECONYL® depolymerization process. What makes this
step so innovative and superior to the processes used by our competitors? The difference – and this is quite a miracle – lies in our
system that gives us a very high ratio of nylon output compared to the waste input. Until recent, depolymerization at a scale that
is commercially viable has been deemed impossible in the synthetic fibers sectors. The cost was simply too high since only very
little nylon could be gained from huge amounts of waste.
The ECONYL® brand found two ways to make the impossible possible. First, we have installed highly effective supply chains that
guarantee waste with 90 to 95% of polyamide content. This means we can harvest a maximum amount of nylon from the waste
since it contains very little foreign material. Second, we have invented a radically new purification process that is less complex than
the ones applied in the industry. As a result we utilize a lot less energy and water, have a lot less residual waste and produce a lot
more first grade nylon.
CREATING THE MIRACLE: 100% REGENERATION
TO ARRIVE AT
RECYCLING
VIRGIN QUALITY
4 ECONYL®
POLYMERIZATION
THE ECONYL® POLYMERIZATION PLANT
Our two polymerization plants are located in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Arco (Italy). The ECONYL® caprolactam we produce has
the same chemical and performance characteristics as caprolactam from fossil raw material. Hence, the process and chemical
methods of transforming the ECONYL® caprolactam into nylon 6 polymers - what is known as polymerization - are identical to
polymerization of virgin caprolactam.
5 ECONYL®
TRANSFORMATION
TRANSFORMATION OF PA6 POLYMER
The PA6 polymers produced from ECONYL® caprolactam are distributed to our production facilities, where they are processed
into BCF yarn (carpet flooring yarn) and NTF yarn (textile yarn).
6 ECONYL®
RE-COMMERCIALIZATION
COMMERCIALIZATION INTO YARNS
From ECONYL® caprolactam we process two groups of products: BCF yarns for synthetic carpet flooring and NTF yarns for
textiles. We market these products to our customers who produce goods for their final markets.
When we speak of re-commercialization we want to rewrite the
rules for producing man-made fibers. Our goal is to manufacture
products that are not only entirely made of regenerated material,
but are fully and endlessly regenerable, too.
Our process starts right at the beginning by designing products
that are suitable for re-manufacturing. And it finishes with the
collection and regeneration of post-consumer waste. It’s a process
that forms a real closed loop in the truest sense.
THINKING
AHEAD,
CREATING
REGENERABLE
PRODUCTS
FACTS & FIGURES
THE PRODUCTION PROCESS OF ECONYL® caprolactam
Four years and
€20MIO
have been spent ON the R&D, design and
building of the chemical system and depolymerization plant
(Source: Aquafil Internal data, 2013)
We have recovered Nylon 6 waste in different REGIONS
of the world
CANADA USA NORWAY GREECE
TURKEY EGYPT PAKISTAN THAILAND
(Source: Aquafil Internal data, 2013)
During 2011 and 2012, we have reclaimED CLOSE TO
16,000
tons of pre- and post-consumer waste
(Source: Aquafil Internal data, 2013)
We have recovered closeD to
4,000
tons of post-consumer goods otherwise
dumped in the natural environment
(Source: Aquafil Internal data, 2013)
PRODUCTS
in the first two years of activity
(2011 and 2012) the ECONYL® plant has produced more THAn
12,000
tons of regenerated caprolactam
which Aquafil transformed INTO polymers and yarns
(Source: Aquafil Internal data, 2013)
IN 2013 ECONYL® PRODUCTS WILL CONTAIN
50%
post-consumer content, increasing the level of 2012
which was around 30%
(Source: Aquafil Internal data, 2013)
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© 2013 Aquafil S.p.A.
ECONYL® is a trademark of Aquafil S.p.A.
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