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Fresh from a $100 million capital raising, Australian enviro-tech Samsara Eco has teamed up with global nylon 6,6 producer NILIT to develop a world-first recycled nylon 6,6 facility in Southeast Asia in a bid to address a major source of waste created by the fashion industry.
The Israel-headquartered NILIT is one of the world’s largest producers of nylon 6,6 for apparel and its partnership with Samsara Eco is aimed at closing the loop on the four million tonnes of nylon 6,6 produced each year.
Since launching in 2020, the Sydney-based Samsara Eco has led world-first innovations in infinite recycling, pioneering the ability to recycle plastics such as nylon 6,6 and polyester.
As one of the most widely used fibres in the performance apparel and fashion industries, nylon 6,6 is notoriously difficult to recycle and even more so when blended with materials such as spandex.
Samsara Eco announced in June that it had raised US$65 million ($100 million) from a Series A+ round which will be applied to developing new commercial facilities over the next few years.
NILIT and Samsara Eco have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to build a pilot facility capable of recycling textile waste, producing high-quality recycled nylon 6,6 polymers for textile brands and manufacturers to seamlessly use in their existing supply chains to create new textile fabrics, infinitely.
The partners anticipate the facility will be operational by late 2026.
“Our vision is to deliver climate repair through infinite recycling,” says Samsara Eco founder and CEO Paul Riley.
“One of the ways we’re achieving this is by creating the first circular pathway for nylon 6,6. Discarded clothing made from nylon 6,6 such as activewear, and even products like car interiors, typically end up in landfill or are incinerated at the end of life, which has dire consequences for our planet.”
The problem is so acute, Riley points out that “almost every piece” of the nine billion tonnes of nylon 6,6 ever made is “still on the planet”,
Samsara Eco’s chief commercial and operations officer Sarah Cooke says that by working with NILIT, this trend can be reversed while simultaneously giving apparel “a new life”.
“The MoU agreement is an important step to help brands and the world advance nylon 6,6 circularity and reduce plastic waste,” says Cook.
“We’re proud to be exploring a pilot recycling facility with NILIT, setting a precedent of what’s possible for future partners globally.”
Once operational, the Southeast Asian facility is expected to recycle millions of tonnes of textile waste to produce recycled nylon 6,6 polymers. Details of the location of the proposed facility have not been disclosed.
NILIT’s partnership with Samsara Eco is a critical step in our multi-pronged strategy to provide the apparel market with premium nylon 6,6 products that have lower environmental impact,” says Ilan Melamed, general manager of NILIT.
“Implementing textile-to-textile recycling solutions will substantially decrease global carbon emissions and reduce the 92 million tonnes of textile waste added to landfills annually.
“Together, NILIT and Samsara Eco have the potential to produce infinitely recycled nylon 6,6 that delivers outstanding fabric quality and performance while benefitting the planet.”
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