Each year in the U.S., 4 billion pounds of carpet is discarded in landfills.

Aquafil Group is committed to help reduce this waste by implementing a closed-loop supply chain where carpets are recycled.

Aquafil has two carpet recycling facilities — in Phoenix and Woodland, CA — that can each process up to 36 million pounds of carpet annually and break old carpets down into three main components: polypropylene (PP), Nylon 6 and calcium carbonate.

1. Nylon 6 is sent to the ECONYL® Regeneration Process in Slovenia with other waste, like reclaimed fishing nets or textile scraps, to make ECONYL® nylon for infinite uses.

2. Polypropylene (mainly used for the backing of carpets) goes into injection-molding production.

3. Calcium carbonate (used to stabilize the carpet) goes into road construction and concrete.

Moreover, thanks to the pioneering partnership with Tarkett, the two companies are closing the loop on commercial carpet tiles in Europe, too.

Tarkett has developed breakthrough technology at its Waalwijk facility and is now able to separate the two principal components of carpet tiles – yarn and backing, while retaining more than 95% yarn purity. This level of purity is vital in ensuring that the polyamide 6 (PA6) is transformed into regenerated ECONYL® nylon yarn.

Now, the partnership is going full circle, with Aquafil sourcing post-use PA6 yarn from Tarkett to create its regenerated ECONYL® yarn.