ECONYL Nylon

To offer high-performance fabrics while minimising environmental impact, AYAQ has chosen regenerated nylon for key areas of its technical clothing. 

Nylon is a synthetic fibre with many valuable properties. It offers excellent abrasion resistance and can be used to create strong fabrics that absorb very little moisture, as nylon fibre absorbs no more than 5% of its weight.  

Nylon yarns dry very quickly and are highly resistant to light. They do not rot, making them particularly long-lasting.

BUT

Nylon is a plastic-based synthetic fibre made from petroleum, the raw material at the heart of its production. With finite reserves on Earth, petroleum is not a renewable resource, and its extraction causes significant pollution at many stages of the extraction and transport chain.

There is, however, a more responsible alternative: regenerated nylon.

For selected technical garments, AYAQ uses regenerated nylon made from all kinds of plastic waste: fishing nets, fabric scraps, used carpets and more (non-biodegradable materials). This waste comes mainly from oceans and seas, where plastic is highly destructive to the seabed. 

The plastic waste is shredded, melted and processed into ECONYL® nylon yarn. This nylon fibre can be recycled endlessly while retaining all its technical and mechanical properties. 

This regeneration process gives multiple lives to a non-biodegradable material, allowing us to benefit from a high-performance material without using new raw materials in its production.