BASF and Inditex in Groundbreaking Breakthrough

BASF and Inditex announce groundbreaking progress in advancing textile recycling in the fashion industry. BASF is presenting the first circular solution for nylon garments made entirely from textile waste through the launch of loopamid®, a polyamide 6 (PA6, also known as nylon 6) produced from 100 percent textile waste. Zara has transformed this material into a jacket made from 100 percent loopamid and is now launching it for sale worldwide. Following a "design for recycling" approach, all components including fabrics, buttons, padding, hook-and-loop fasteners and zippers were produced from loopamid. With loopamid, BASF has developed an innovative solution to improve circularity in the fashion industry and recycle polyamide 6 textile waste. The latest technology behind loopamid, with its ability to tolerate all fabric blends such as PA6 and elastane, enables textile-to-textile recycling of both industrial and post-consumer textile waste. Fibers and materials can be recycled through multiple cycles. At the same time, material properties are identical to conventional unprocessed polyamide. Dr. Ramkumar Dhruva, Head of BASF's Monomers division, said: "BASF has reached an important milestone toward circularity in the fashion industry and is pioneering an approach to closing the loop for nylon textiles. Our loopamid has the potential to create a revolution in the PA6 market. We are in the process of scaling our technology to be able to serve our customers with commercial quantities. Together with Inditex, the capsule jacket is proof that circularity is possible, and we look forward to advancing the sustainable transformation of the textile industry further." Inditex has partnered with other leading groups in the garment manufacturing industry to seamlessly integrate loopamid into various clothing components including fabrics, zippers, buttons, padding, hook-and-loop fasteners and sewing threads. ModaRe, a take-back program operated by the charitable organization Caritas, sorted, classified and supplied discarded textile products as raw material. RadiciGroup, an Italian company, is working to convert the loopamid polymer into various yarn types with different properties. The multinational Japanese fastener company YKK and multinational Velcro company have also played important roles in using the loopamid polymer to create plastic components for zippers, snap buttons and hook-and-loop fasteners. Uniter from Spain, Tessitura Vignetta from Italy, and Freudenberg and Gütermann from Germany have also participated in this project to develop other garment components such as inner labels, padding materials and sewing threads using loopamid. Javier Losada, Head of Sustainability at Inditex, added: "Driving innovation is key to moving toward a more responsible industry. This collaboration is an excellent example of how we can work together to use new technology to transform textile waste into a new resource. This project is also a first step toward advancing a circular solution, as the sector needs to increase new collection and recycling capacities in order to close the loop and scale recycling for post-consumer waste." The collaboration between BASF and Inditex is based on a shared journey—both companies are pursuing ambitious sustainability targets. BASF aims to double sales generated from solutions for the circular economy by 2030, reaching EUR 17 billion. To achieve this, the company is focusing on three areas of action: circular raw materials, new material cycles and new business models. Inditex aims for 100 percent of textile products to be made exclusively from materials with a smaller environmental footprint by 2030. As part of this commitment, the Group expects 25 percent of textile fibers to be made from next-generation materials not yet available at industrial scale, 40 percent from conventional recycled materials and 25 percent from organic and regenerative fibers. Polyamide 6, commonly known as nylon 6, is a type of synthetic polymer widely used in various applications due to its excellent mechanical properties and versatility. BASF is one of the leading producers of polyamide 6 and its precursors with production facilities in Europe, Asia and North America. Source