US chemical recycling company NylaNova has entered into a partnership with nylon-6 producer Nylene, which plans to source recovered caprolactam from the company’s recycling process. Caprolactam is a key chemical building block used to manufacture nylon-6, a material widely used in apparel, carpets and industrial products.

The agreement provides a potential commercial outlet for NylaNova’s recovered feedstock and an additional source of raw material for Nylene’s nylon production. Developed at Northwestern University, NylaNova’s technology uses selective catalysts to break down post-consumer nylon-6 waste into caprolactam for use in new nylon production.

The company says its process can handle mixed apparel, carpet and industrial waste without pre-sorting, recovering more than 90% of the material. Nylene operates a nylon-6 recycling facility in Arnprior, Ontario, and has used depolymerisation technology since 1966. NylaNova has also demonstrated its process at the metric-ton scale using commercially available equipment.

According to NylaNova, an independent third-party life cycle assessment found that its recovered caprolactam generates 95% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional virgin production. The company also claims that the material can compete with virgin caprolactam on price.