The “Effective” Project: Producing Bio-Based Nylon

Although the ECONYL® Regeneration System is an example of a sustainable circular model, depolymerization alone is unlikely to enable the Nylon industry to make its production processes completely independent of fossil-based raw materials. World population growth is accompanied by a continuous demand for new products that must necessarily be produced from raw materials, not just from waste.

For this reason, the Group has launched the “Effective” project, coordinated by the AquafilSLO and financed by the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), a public-private partnership between the EU and a consortium of bio-economics enterprises.

The project aims to develop an innovative technology that makes it possible to produce caprolactam (a monomer used to make Nylon) from renewable raw materials of plant origin instead of oil. In partnership with leading bio-engineering company Genomatica, we have built a demo plant in our AquafilSLO (Ljubljana) facility to test the technical feasibility of producing bio-caprolactam on a pre-industrial scale. The plant has been operational since 2022 and the outcome of the project has shown that it is possible to create prototypes of products (swimwear, bike pants, bio-nylon carpets and food packaging).