Engineering:Econyl

From HandWiki

Econyl is brand name for recycled polyamide fabric introduced in 2011 by Italian company Aquafil.[1] 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).[2]

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.[3][4] Commercial production of Econyl started the same year at Aquafil's plant in Slovenia.[5]

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.[6]

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.[3] For every 10,000 tons of Econyl raw material produced, the company claims up to 70,000 barrels of crude oil are saved.[7] Further, the material can be continuously recycled without loss of quality.[8]

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), Sam Badi and many other brands from the fashion and interior industries.[1][3][9][8][10][11] It has also been used for trim, floor mats and as seat cover material by various automakers.[12][13][14]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ankeny, Jason (December 2015). "From Shredding to Recycling". Entrepreneur (Irvine, California: Entrepreneur Media, Inc.) 43 (12): 52–3. https://archive.org/details/Entrepreneur_December_2015/page/n53/mode/2up. Retrieved 26 June 2020. 
  2. ↑ Letcher, Trevor (2020-03-10) (in en). Plastic Waste and Recycling: Environmental Impact, Societal Issues, Prevention, and Solutions. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-817881-2. https://www.google.nl/books/edition/Plastic_Waste_and_Recycling/Ma_SDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=aquafil&pg=PA473&printsec=frontcover. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Thomas, Dana (2019). Fashionopolis. New York: Penguin Random House (Penguin Press). pp. 200–2. ISBN 978-0-7352-2401-8. 
  4. ↑ "Aquafil achieves nylon and elastane separation". https://www.innovationintextiles.com/sustainable/. 
  5. ↑ Letcher, Trevor (2020-03-10) (in en). Plastic Waste and Recycling: Environmental Impact, Societal Issues, Prevention, and Solutions. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-817881-2. https://www.google.nl/books/edition/Plastic_Waste_and_Recycling/Ma_SDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=aquafil&pg=PA473&printsec=frontcover. 
  6. ↑ "The Materials: How Aquafil aims to scale elastane-nylon separation process" (in en). https://www.the-spin-off.com/news/stories/The-Materials-Aquafil-inaugurates-first-plant-to-separate-elastane-from-nylon-18892. 
  7. ↑ "The Process" (in en-US). 2018-03-12. https://www.econyl.com/the-process/. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Sustainable synthetic fibre production". Sustainable Fibres and Textiles. The Textile Institute Book Series. Elsevier (Woodhead). 2017. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-08-102041-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=tA8TDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA191. 
  9. ↑ "Green supply chain practices for environmental sustainability: A proposed framework for manufacturing firms". International Journal of Mechanical and Production Engineering Research and Development (Trans Stellar) 9 (2): 294. April 2019. https://archive.org/details/28IJMPERDAPR201928/mode/2up. "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.". 
  10. ↑ Taylor, Meggen (May 26, 2021). "Three Sustainable One-Piece Swimsuits That Seamlessly Go From The Beach To The Streets". https://www.forbes.com/sites/meggentaylor/2021/05/26/three-sustainable-one-piece-swimsuits-that-seamlessly-go-from-the-beach-to-the-streets/. 
  11. ↑ Valentino, Raffaele (22 July 2023). "Capo d'Orlando – Da scarti e rifiuti di Nylon nascono splendidi costumi: così "Sam Badi" punta sull'ecosostenibilità". AMnotizie.it - Quotidiano di informazione (in Italian). https://www.amnotizie.it/2023/07/22/capo-dorlando-da-scarti-e-rifiuti-di-nylon-nascono-splendidi-costumi-cosi-sam-badi-punta-sullecosostenibilita/. 
  12. ↑ "Maserati Uses Aquafil Econyl Recycled Nylon" (in en). https://www.designnews.com/automotive-engineering/maserati-uses-aquafil-econyl-recycled-nylon. 
  13. ↑ Williams, Abigail (2020-12-02). "Recycled materials in vehicle interiors" (in en-GB). https://www.automotivemanufacturingsolutions.com/press-and-body/recycled-materials-in-vehicle-interiors/522432. 
  14. ↑ Valladares Montemayor, Halia M.; Chanda, Rayyan Hamza (2023-08-01). "Automotive industry's circularity applications and industry 4.0". Environmental Challenges 12. doi:10.1016/j.envc.2023.100725. ISSN 2667-0100. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667010023000495. 

Further reading

  • Sylvia Klimaki (January 2020). "Industries Adapt to Address the Climate and Ecological Crisis". The Hourglass (4): 1. 



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