Aquafil focuses on reducing ocean waste in circular economy on world oceans day June 8, 2020

Giulio Bonazzi, Chairman and CEO of Aquafil Group to Share Insights at the Fashinnovation Virtual Conference

Cartersville, GA, June 4, 2020 – Aquafil announced today that will share insights on reducing ocean waste as we move toward a circular economy this World Oceans Day, June 8, 2020. World Oceans Day was created to remind everyone of the major role the oceans have in everyday life. Oceans are the lungs of the planet, providing us with more than half of the oxygen we breathe.

As part of increasing awareness around preserving our oceans, Aquafil chairman and chief executive officer, Giulio Bonazzi will be a featured panelist with Susan Rockefeller as the moderator at Fashinnovation virtual conference, discussing the topic, ‘Fashion Is Activism & Innovation in Turning the Tide on Plastic Pollution’, on June 8, 2020.

“It is an absolute honor to be speaking at Fashinnovation to increase awareness of the importance of reducing ocean waste during World Oceans Day this year,” said chairman and chief executive officer, Giulio Bonazzi. “We produce ECONYL® nylon from waste materials such as fishing nets (ghost nets from the ocean and nets from fish farming) and used carpets because we know that we need to find innovative ways to reduce and reuse waste that is filling our oceans and landfills. The circular economy is within reach and companies like Aquafil are invested in making it a reality across key industries across the globe.”

To help address the issue of ocean waste, Aquafil co-founded the Healthy Seas Initiative in 2013. With the partnership between the Healthy Seas Initiative and Aquafil, abandoned fishing nets are not only recovered from our seas with the help of volunteer divers, but they become a useful resource for implementing sustainable manufacturing methods. Since 2013, Healthy Seas has collected 510 tons of fishing net waste from the oceans with the help of 170 volunteer divers.

Some of this fishing net waste is regenerated to make high quality nylon yarn called ECONYL®.
ECONYL® regenerated nylon which is made out of waste like fishing nets from oceans and fish farming and old carpets. ECONYL® can be regenerated an infinite number of times without losing its quality. Using ECONYL® regenerated nylon also reduces the global warming impact of nylon by up to 80% compared with the material generated from oil.

Today, ECONYL® nylon is one of the most sought-after materials used by more than 1,000 brands all over the world including Stella McCartney, Prada, Gucci, and Mara Hoffman. ECONYL® is also listed as a resource in the Council of Fashion Designers Guide (CFDA) of sustainable materials. Recently, Aquafil was featured on Fortune’s 2019 One’s to Watch List as a company that is already having an outsize influence on its community, its customers, and the planet.

To sign-up for the upcoming virtual Fashionnovation panel on June 8 – 9.30 am EST:
https://fashinnovation.nyc/worldwide-talks-2020-2nd-edition/