Aquafil, a company in the circular economy, announced that ECONYL® regenerated nylon contributes to LEED v4 points in four main categories. LEED v4 is the most current version of the LEED green building rating system established by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Made from waste, like fishing nets and old carpets, ECONYL is infinitely recyclable and offers various design possibilities. It is available in 170 colors and allows designers and specifiers to create new products and buy new products without having to use new resources.

The four main LEED v4 categories that ECONYL contributes to are:

• Integrative Process – Aquafil shares its knowledge and experience creating sustainable materials with project teams to collectively enhance human comfort and environmental benefits.
• Indoor Environmental Quality – ECONYL is a low emitting material—General Emissions Evaluation results ensure low VOC levels in ECONYL products.
• Materials and Resources – In terms of Building Life Cycle Impact Reduction, ECONYL has an 80% reduction on global warming potential compared to virgin nylon. And regarding Sourcing of Raw Materials, ECONYL comes from 100% waste material of which a minimum of 50% post-consumer waste is certified.
• Innovation – ECONYL fosters advancement of the Circular Economy through nylon regeneration, going beyond recycling.

“We are proud to be part of the green building and design movement,” said Giulio Bonazzi, chairman and CEO of Aquafil SpA. “Architects and designers have a growing consciousness that sustainability is mission critical to our future. We have created ECONYL to help move green building and design forward. Contributing to LEED points is a very important motivator for our partners, and we are excited to contribute to LEED v4 points across four categories.”

The ECONYL Regeneration System starts with rescuing from landfills and oceans all over the world. That waste is then sorted and cleaned to recover all of the nylon possible. Through a radical regeneration and purification process, the nylon waste is recycled right back to its original purity. That means ECONYL regenerated nylon is exactly the same as virgin nylon. ECONYL regenerated nylon is processed into carpet yarn and textile yarn for the fashion and interior industries. Fashion brands and carpet producers use ECONYL regenerated nylon to create brand new products and that nylon has the potential to be recycled infinitely, without ever losing its quality. The goal is that once all products containing ECONYL are no longer useful to customers, they can go back into step one of the Regeneration System.

For every 10,000 tons of ECONYL raw material, 70,000 barrels of crude oil are saved, and 57,100 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions are avoided. ECONYL is also UL and Cradle-to-Cradle certified.