Nylene commits to NylaNova’s recycled caprolactam

By Olivia Hart

Northwestern University spin-off NylaNova will supply recycled caprolactam to nylon-6 producer Nylene, with the chemical recycling company targeting its first commercial manufacturing plant in 2028.

What has Nylene agreed to buy?

Nylene, an established nylon-6 producer with operations in Canada and the United States, will add NylaNova’s recycled caprolactam as a new feedstock source for its production lines. Caprolactam is the raw material used to make nylon.

Nylene is a subsidiary of Polymeric Resources Corp., a company founded in 1979. It makes specialty nylon resins, copolymers and compounds for automotive, packaging, wire and cable, injection molding, rotational molding, fiber and carpet applications.

At its headquarters in Arnprior, Ontario, Nylene runs a nylon-6 depolymerization unit. Nylene officials described it as one of only three such units worldwide and the longest continuously operating. The company did not release a capacity figure for the facility.

Takeaway: Nylene has a supplier, but the announcement does not state a delivery volume.

Can the process handle mixed waste?

In a Nov. 4 statement, NylaNova said it uses selective catalysts developed at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and exclusively licensed from the university. Those catalysts depolymerize nylon-6 waste into high-purity caprolactam at yields above 90%.

The process accepts mixed apparel, carpet and industrial scrap without pre-sorting. NylaNova said that requirement addresses a persistent barrier for existing recycling routes.

“The real test of a recycling technology is whether a producer will buy the material and put it into production,” said Yosi Kratish, NylaNova’s founder and chief technology officer. “Meeting that standard is what we set out to do.”

NylaNova has demonstrated its process at tonne scale on mixed plastic waste, running continuously on off-the-shelf equipment. An independent third-party life-cycle assessment found that the resulting green caprolactam produces 95% lower greenhouse gas emissions than the conventional virgin route.

NylaNova offers the material at a virgin-competitive price, with no green premium or sustainability surcharge. The pricing claim is straightforward; the missing factory remains the harder part.

NylaNova president Ananth Naman said the caprolactam must meet the specifications the nylon industry already uses without changing production processes. Supplying Nylene, he said, is how NylaNova will prove the design.

Takeaway: Mixed feedstock, high yield and virgin-level pricing look strong on paper, but only a plant can prove them at scale.

What must happen before scale?

Nylene’s existing experience underpins the agreement. “We have been recycling nylon-6 at Arnprior since 1966, so we understand how much value there is in recovering this material,” said Scott Kuehl, Nylene’s business development and product manager. “We believe that more nylon should have a second life, and a third.”

Kuehl said Nylene’s mixed-polymer post-consumer waste stream is not viable within its current operations. NylaNova designed its process for that underserved resource, he said, and buying green caprolactam is the next step in recovering more material.

Apparel Impact Institute awarded NylaNova a grant in December 2025 through its Climate Solutions Portfolio. The grant will fund vetting of the solution and support the company’s move from its current stage of commercialization toward greater scalability.

NylaNova is aiming to open its first commercial manufacturing plant in 2028. Until then, its tonne-scale work remains a demonstration, while commercial production and operating capacity remain future targets.

Takeaway: The deciding milestone is commercial, not conceptual: Nylene must put the feedstock into production while NylaNova reaches its 2028 plant opening.