Aquafil has won the “Best Resource Efficiency” award at the 2014 German Sustainability Awards in Dusseldorf, Germany for its sustainability efforts across the entire supply chain that are used to feed the ECONYL® Regeneration System.

On November 28, 2014, Professor Dr. Michael Braungart presented the German Sustainability Award for “Best Resource Efficiency” to Giulio Bonazzi, CEO of Aquafil Group. “Aquafil has introduced new processes and technologies across the supply chain that have built new partnerships in order to close fibre circuits to improve resource efficiency,” the jury stated. According to the jury, Aquafil is a role model for the industry.

Over 30,000 tons of waste collected in the past 3 years.

The cycle begins with the purchase. The ECONYL® Reclaiming Program is a global network established in 2011 to organize Nylon 6 waste collection points. Pre- (e.g. oligomers, production waste, etc.) and post-consumer waste (e.g. fishing nets, carpet fluff) originating from countries all over the world are recovered and used to feed the ECONYL Regeneration System.

Aquafil cooperates with numerous partners at various stages on the supply chain to achieve optimal results. Together with the European Centre for Nature and Conservation (ECNC Group) and the sock manufacturer Star Sock, Aquafil launched the Healthy Seas initiative to collect fish nets in the North, Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas. Aquafil has also partnered with carpet manufacturer Interface and the Zoological Society of London to establish Net-Works™. This project aims to recover abandoned fishing nets that have been collected by fishermen in small fishing villages along Danajon Bank in the Philippines. A new hub will be introduced in the Lake Ossa region of Cameroon in 2015.

Every 10,000t ECONYL® caprolactam produced saves 70,000 barrels of oil and 42,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

Aquafil’s innovative ECONYL® brand is all about regeneration. From the collected waste, quality products are created through the regeneration process allowing raw materials to be used sparingly and large amounts of waste avoided. Sustainability plays a major role throughout the Aquafil Group. Since 2007, greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by up to 25%and 36% of the electricity has come from renewable resources.