SUSTAINABILITY IS NOT A GOAL TO BE REACHED BUT A WAY OF THINKING, A WAY OF BEING, A PRINCIPLE WE MUST BE GUIDED BY.

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3 SUSTAINABILITY IS NOT A GOAL TO BE REACHED BUT A WAY OF THINKING, A WAY OF BEING, A PRINCIPLE WE MUST BE GUIDED BY. GIULIO BONAZZI CHAIRMAN, AQUAFIL GROUP Imagine if you could turn old waste into something brand new and beautiful. The ECONYL brand does just this: we turn nylon waste into prime material for industrial manufacturing. As we all know waste is a by-product of any industrial production. What if we could somehow turn this concept upside down? This is exactly our idea: We reduce the amount of global waste by collecting it from landfills and oceans and feeding it back into production cycles. As people working for the ECONYL brand we invest our commitment, determination and skill to make these dreams, ideas and values come true. By that we create processes and products that help make tomorrow a better place to live. A place, where industrial production goes hand in hand with respect for the environment. A place, where sustainable technologies, processes and products with low environmental impact dominate the landscape of global markets.

4 THE ECONYL REGENERATION SYSTEM AN INTELLIGENT AND SUSTAINABLE WAY TO CREATE PRODUCTS FROM WASTE IN A CONTINUOUS LOOP. THE ECONYL REGENERATION SYSTEM CONSISTS OF SIX PRODUCTION STEPS THAT FORM A CLOSED LOOP.

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6 1 ECONYL WASTE RESCUE WORLDWIDE POLYAMIDE WASTE RESCUE The ECONYL reclaiming program is the first step of the ECONYL Regeneration System. Nylon waste is collected in different areas around the world. It is sent to the ECONYL waste collection and treatment center in Ajdovščina, Slovenia. From there it is forwarded to the nearby regeneration plant located in Ljubljana. The pre-consumer waste we collect includes production discards, industrial plastic components and oligomers. Our supply chains that provide post-consumer waste are becoming more and more important. We collect products at the end of their life cycle- fishing nets, fabrics and fluff from carpet flooring. We aim to work in synergy with clients and institutions, particularly in the BCF sector, where we assist yarn manufacturers to collect old carpets and rugs. Currently, we reclaim waste throughout Canada (British Columbia), USA, Greece, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, Thailand and Norway, and we are constantly exploring new opportunities.

7 2 ECONYL WASTE PREPARATION STORAGE AND PREPARATION OF WASTE Ajdovščina (Slovenia) near Ljubljana, is the place where the collected waste begins its journey back to its origins. In this waste treatment center, the different types of waste are cleaned and prepared for depolymerization. As part of the cleaning process, foreign materials other than nylon 6 - organic, plastic or metallic materials - are removed and sent to other supply chains. The cleaned nylon waste is shredded, compacted, bagged and transported to the ECONYL regeneration plant in Ljubljana. OUR GOAL: 100% POST-CONSUMER WASTE WE TREAT IN OUR PLANT MORE THAN 1,000 TONS OF ECONYL POLYMER EVERY MONTH THE WORLD IS FREED OF MORE THAN 1,000 TONS OF PA6 EQUIVALENT WASTE

8 3 ECONYL DEPOLYMERIZATION THE ECONYL DEPOLYMERIZATION PLANT At the heart of the ECONYL Regeneration System stands a miracle: the ECONYL depolymerization process. What makes this step so innovative and superior to the processes used by our competitors? The difference and this is quite a miracle lies in our system that gives us a very high ratio of nylon output compared to the waste input. Until recently, depolymerization at a scale that is commercially viable has been deemed impossible in the synthetic fibers sector. The cost was simply too high since only very little nylon could be gained from huge amounts of waste. We have invented a radically new purification process that is less complex than others applied in the industry. As a result, less energy and water is utilized, there is less residual waste and more first-grade nylon is produced. CREATING THE MIRACLE: 100% REGENERATION TO ARRIVE AT RECYCLING VIRGIN QUALITY

9 4 ECONYL POLYMERIZATION THE ECONYL POLYMERIZATION PLANT Our two polymerization plants are located in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Arco (Italy). The ECONYL caprolactam we produce has the same chemical and performance characteristics as caprolactam from raw fossil material. Hence, the process and chemical methods of transforming the ECONYL caprolactam into nylon 6 polymers what is known as polymerization are identical to polymerization of virgin caprolactam.

10 5 ECONYL TRANSFORMATION TRANSFORMATION OF PA6 POLYMERS The PA6 polymers produced from ECONYL caprolactam are distributed to our production facilities where they are processed into BCF yarn (carpet flooring yarn) and NTF yarn (textile yarn).

11 6 ECONYL RE-COMMERCIALIZATION COMMERCIALIZATION INTO YARNS From ECONYL caprolactam we process two types of products: BCF yarns for synthetic carpet flooring and NTF yarns for textiles. We market these products to our customers who produce goods for their final markets. When we speak of re-commercialization, we want to rewrite the rules for producing man-made fibers. Our goal is to manufacture products that are not only entirely made of regenerated material, but are fully and endlessly regenerable. Our process starts at the beginning by designing products that are suitable for remanufacturing and finishing with the collection and regeneration of post-consumer waste. It s a process that forms a closed loop in the truest sense. THINKING AHEAD, CREATING REGENERABLE PRODUCTS

12 FACTS & FIGURES THE PRODUCTION PROCESS OF ECONYL CAPROLACTAM FOUR YEARS AND 25M WERE SPENT ON THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, DESIGN AND BUILDING OF THE CHEMICAL SYSTEM AND DEPOLYMERIZATION PLANT (Source: Aquafil Internal data, 2013) WE HAVE RECOVERED NYLON 6 FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD CANADA, USA, NORWAY, GREECE, TURKEY, EGYPT, PAKISTAN, THAILAND IN 2015, THE PRODUCTION OF ECONYL CAPROLACTAM WILL SAVE MORE THAN 170,000 TONS OF CO2 EMISSIONS - EQUIVALENT TO A CAR CIRCUMNAVIGATING THE EQUATOR MORE THAN 30,000 TIMES. (Fonte: Dati interni Aquafil) IN 2015, THE PRODUCTION OF ECONYL CAPROLACTAM WILL SAVE MORE THAN 3M GJ OF ENERGY - EQUIVALENT TO THE ENERGY DEMAND OF CITIZENS OF ROME FOR ABOUT 15 DAYS. (Fonte: Dati interni Aquafil)

13 PRODUCTS FOR EVERY TON OF FISH NET RECOVERED AND REGENERATED, WE WILL PRODUCE ENOUGH YARN FOR MORE THAN 31,000 PAIR OF SOCKS ASSUMPTION: 50% ECONYL CONTENT IN SOCK (Source: Aquafil Internal data) FOR EVERY TON OF FISH NET RECOVERED AND REGENERATED, WE WILL PRODUCE ENOUGH YARN FOR MORE THAN 1,100 METERS 2 OF CARPET TOTAL PILE WEIGHT= 600 G/M2 (Source: Aquafil Internal data)

14 Contact us Follow 2014 Aquafil S.p.A. ECONYL is a trademark of Aquafil S.p.A.

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