Toray develops recycled nylon 66

Recently, Japan's Toray Industries Co., Ltd. stated that the company has developed regenerated nylon 66 recovered from silicone resin-coated airbag fabric waste. The fluidity and mechanical properties of the recycled regenerated nylon 66 are the same as those of injection molded nylon 66. Toray plans to start full-scale sample production work in April 2023. The company intends to purchase recyclable raw materials in overseas factories to establish a global supply system and realize commercialization.

It is reported that Toray recycles airbag waste through Refinverse Group, a garbage collection company, and then washes it. The silicone resin is stripped from the airbag fabric fragments, and additives are added to the resin to make recycled nylon 66. Toray said that nylon 66 fabrics recycled using Toray's technology can be either silicon-coated or uncoated. Previously, manufacturers typically could only recycle uncoated fabric scraps, and recycling coated airbag fabric fragments required additional removal of the silicon coating.

Toray also plans to launch a chemically recycled polybutylene terephthalate resin product whose performance is equivalent to that of newly produced resin material. The company will continue to evaluate material recovery and chemical recycling of its polymers, expanding its product lineup with products such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer and polyphenylene sulfide.