After closing $100m raise, Samsara Eco eyes nylon recycling facility
Australian recycling startup Samsara Eco partners with global nylon leader NILIT to develop the world's first nylon 6,6 textile-to-textile recycling facility.
Just months after the announcement of its $100 million raise , Australian recycling startup Samsara Eco has joined forces with global nylon 6,6 leader NILIT to explore the construction of the world's first nylon 6,6 textile-to-textile recycling facility.
The partnership hopes to address the significant environmental challenge posed by the petroleum-derived nylon 6,6, a widely used fibre in performance apparel and fashion that is notoriously difficult to recycle, as it’s made up of two different molecules. In fact, trying to separate the molecules prior to Samsara’s technology has been described as “trying to unbake a cake”.
The announcement comes at a time of increasing consumer demand for sustainable fabrics with the market projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.2% from 2023-2029.
Approximately 4 million tonnes of nylon 6,6 is produced annually and 92 million tonnes of textile waste added to landfills each year. The new facility will be uniquely capable of recycling textile waste, including coloured and blended textiles like nylon 6,6 with spandex, to produce high-quality recycled nylon 6,6 polymers.
