On June 28th, Interface, the Zoological Society of London and Aquafil were named „Partnership of the Year“ at the National Recycling Awards in London for their collaboration in the Net-Works™ initiative.

Net-Works is an innovative business model that empowers people in coastal communities in the developing world to collect discarded nylon fishing nets by removing them from the ocean where they wreak havoc with marine life. The nets are then regenerated by Aquafil into ECONYL® yarn which is used by Interface to make new carpet tiles.

At Aquafil, we are really proud of this award and of the partnership with Interface and the Zoological Society London. We truly believe that the key to sustainability is collaboration, and we apply this to many projects we have connected to the ECONYL® Regeneration System. This unique recycling system, in fact, would not be possible if it wasn’t for the cooperation of many partners along this newly created supply chain. Collaboration is what allows us to recover nylon waste material all around the world and feed it to an industrial plant running 24/7.  The plant is able to substitute caprolactam, a derivative of oil, with waste that would otherwise be abandoned in landfills, incinerated or dumped into nature and the seas. From that recycled waste, ECONYL® yarn is made.