What Is Econyl?

How is Econyl made?

Econyl is made by breaking nylon waste down chemically into its original building blocks and turning those into new polymer. The polymer is then spun into yarn or made into plastics compounds. Aquafil, which writes the name as ECONYL®, introduced this ECONYL Regeneration System in 2011.

The building block of nylon 6 is caprolactam: when caprolactam is the starting material, the polymer that results is nylon 6. Aquafil refers to “ECONYL® caprolactam” and states that certifications verify the recycled content of its caprolactam, polymers and yarns.

What goes in

• Fishing nets from aquaculture and the fishing industry, plus ghost nets recovered from the seabed.
• End-of-life carpets, which Aquafil says are mainly collected and processed through recycling facilities in the United States.
• Industrial waste, including textile scraps and plastic components.

Only nylon 6 can go in. Aquafil says its facilities process nylon 6 waste only, and nets made of other materials are sent to other waste streams or to energy production. Its life cycle assessment names the polymer plants as Ljubljana in Slovenia and Arco in Italy.

Ocean plastic: what the sourcing says

Econyl is not mainly ocean waste: by Aquafil’s own account, most of its fishing nets do not come from the seabed. The company says nets from aquaculture and fishing industries arrive in larger quantities, while ghost nets recovered by the Healthy Seas Foundation, which Aquafil co-founded in 2013 and which works with volunteer divers, arrive in smaller quantities. Across the market, Textile Exchange notes that most recycled polyamide is made from pre-consumer waste or materials such as discarded fishing nets and carpets.

What are the properties of Econyl?

Econyl has the properties of nylon 6, because chemically it is nylon 6. Aquafil says it delivers the same quality and performance as conventional nylon.

• Strength and wear: drawn nylon fibre is tough, elastic and strong, and nylon has high resistance to wear, heat and chemicals.
• Blends: in sportswear and swimwear, Aquafil notes, nylon is commonly combined with elastane or other elastic fibres, so an Econyl swimsuit or pair of leggings may be a blend. The fibre label shows the split.
• Appearance: because Aquafil presents regenerated nylon as matching conventional nylon, recycled origin is not something you can check by touch. The evidence is on paper: the label, the brand’s claim and its certificates.

How is Econyl graded or measured?

Econyl has no consumer quality grade. What can be measured is the polymer grade, the certified recycled content and the carbon footprint Aquafil reports. Aquafil’s 2025 life cycle assessment covers two polymer grades defined by viscosity, 2.4 and 2.7, and reports a single weighted figure for both.

Both figures are company claims. The 1.69 kg figure comes from Aquafil’s published life cycle data, which it says is ISO 14040/44 compliant and third-party verified. The 74% comparison is stated in its ESG report, citing such a study. Both describe polymer, not a finished garment.

How does Econyl appear on a clothing label?

Econyl appears on a fibre-content label as nylon in the US, or as polyamide or nylon in the EU, with its percentage by weight; the word Econyl may only accompany that legal name, never replace it.

Under US rules

• Nylon is the generic name for a manufactured fibre made of a long-chain synthetic polyamide in which less than 85% of the amide linkages are attached directly to two aromatic rings (16 CFR 303.7).
• A label must give the generic names and percentages by weight of the fibres, the maker’s name or registered identification (RN) number, and the country where the product was processed or manufactured (16 CFR 303.16(a)).
• A fibre trademark such as ECONYL® may be used only with the generic name in immediate conjunction, in type of equal size and conspicuousness (16 CFR 303.17).
• In products of more than one fibre, the stated percentages may deviate by up to 3% of total fibre weight (16 CFR 303.43).

Under EU rules

• The listed fibre name is “polyamide or nylon” (Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011, Annex I).
• All constituent fibres must be named with their percentage by weight, in descending order (Article 9).
• Trade marks may appear immediately before or after the fibre composition (Article 16).
• Labels must be durable, easily legible, visible and accessible (Article 14).

What the percentage tells you

The legal fibre name is the same for regenerated and fossil-based nylon. A label reading “80% polyamide, 20% elastane” tells you the blend; whether that polyamide is Econyl rests on the trademark beside it and on the brand’s evidence.

How do you tell a genuine Econyl garment from a vague claim?

You tell a genuine Econyl garment by checking that the fibre label names nylon or polyamide with a percentage, that any Econyl mention sits beside that name, and that the brand can show evidence for the recycled content.

1. Read the fibre-content label, not the swing tag. Look for “nylon” or “polyamide” and a percentage. A US label that shows ECONYL® without the generic name next to it, in equal type size, does not meet 16 CFR 303.17.
2. Count the fibres. Econyl is nylon 6 only. In “78% nylon, 22% elastane”, the elastane is not regenerated nylon, so “made with Econyl” can describe at most the nylon share.
3. Ask for the certificate. Aquafil says certifications verify the recycled content of its caprolactam, polymers and yarns. A brand using the name should be able to say which one covers its fabric.
4. Check the comparison behind any percentage. Aquafil’s 74% figure compares its regenerated polymer with its own standard nylon, and its published life cycle data stops at the factory gate. A garment-level claim goes beyond what Aquafil has measured.

Red flags

• “Made from ocean plastic” with no detail: Aquafil itself says ghost nets are the smaller part of its net supply.
• “Infinitely recyclable”: Aquafil says nylon can be regenerated “again and again”, but calls fabrics that combine nylon with elastane one of the biggest challenges in textile recycling.
• A sustainability claim for the whole garment when the label shows a large share of other fibres.

How do you care for Econyl?

Care for an Econyl garment as its care label directs, exactly as you would the same garment in conventional nylon, because Aquafil states the regenerated fibre performs the same. Where the nylon is blended with elastane, as it can be in a swimsuit, a bikini or a sports bra, the care label is written for the blend, not for the nylon alone.

Is Econyl sustainable?

Econyl has a lower carbon footprint than Aquafil’s own fossil-based nylon by the company’s verified figures, but it is still a synthetic fibre, its published life cycle data stops at the factory gate, and recycled nylon remains a small part of the nylon market. Within sustainable fashion, it is a lower-carbon material by its maker’s figures, not an impact-free one.

• Market share: Textile Exchange’s Materials Market Report 2024 puts recycled fibres at about 2% of the polyamide market, in a market of 6.7 million tonnes of polyamide produced in 2023. It attributes the low share to technical recycling challenges and the lower price of new fossil-based polyamide.
• Post-consumer collection: Aquafil set itself a target of collecting 35,000 tonnes of post-consumer waste by 2025; its 2025 ESG report records 15,961 tonnes and lists the target as on hold, to be reassessed after a strategic reorganisation.
• Blends: Aquafil opened its first demonstration plant for separating nylon from elastic fibres in Slovenia in 2025, so separating stretch blends was still at demonstration stage as of 2025.
• Scope: the life cycle study leaves downstream processes outside its scope, so fabric making, garment use and end of life are not counted.

Econyl should not be confused with recycled polyester: both are recycled synthetics, but polyester is a different polymer from nylon.