[pageLogInLogOut]

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Toray to domestically sell chemical recycled fiber products derived from fishing nets

© 2022 Toray
Toray Industries, Inc., announced today that it will begin selling nylon 6 chemically recycled fiber (N6CR) yarns, textiles, and other products in Japan from March 2023. These offerings will apply Toray’s depolymerization and repolymerization technology to recycled plastics and other materials that Refineverse Group, Inc., makes from recovered fishing nets.

Toray looks for N6CR product sales to rise from around 800 million yen in the year ending March 31, 2023, to 1.2 billion yen two years later.

This year, Toray set up a new production system at its Nagoya Plant that identifies virgin raw materials from fossil sources. This setup comprises a raw materials input facility for recycled fishing net-derived resin and recycled lactam storage tanks. This setup will recycle nylon 6 fiber products, accelerate efforts to develop an advanced fiber to fiber recycling business, and contributing to a circular economy.

The world is increasingly interested in Sustainable Development Goals and environmental, social, and governance issues. Demand is growing for eco-friendly materials and products for apparel. In industrial applications, demand is surging for switching away from petrochemical feedstocks and for conserving resources.

Toray’s new N6CR facility will enable it to overcome technical challenges and reinforce its range of high-performance, high-value-added nylon fibers for apparel. The company looks particularly to expand sales of thin, eco-friendly fabrics for sports and outdoor wear, innerwear, and legwear.

Common applications for industrial nylon fiber are automotive parts, ropes, fishing nets, carpets, and other general industrial materials. Toray’s endeavor will help cut environmental impacts across an array of industrial fields and drive uptakes of sustainable resources.

Toray will expand its advanced fiber to fiber recycling business by collaborating with customers in initiatives to sell products incorporating its N6CR materials. Such endeavors will be in keeping with the company’s commitment to innovating ideas, technologies, and products that deliver new value.

One goal of the Toray Group Sustainability Vision is to help the world manage resources sustainably by 2050. Toray will accordingly keep pursuing that vision to help eliminate resource depletion and marine pollution from large amounts of waste, cut carbon dioxide emissions, and tackle other issues to materialize a circular economy.


1. Overview

(1)? Planned sales launch: March 2023

(2)? Annual production: Around 400 metric tons

(3)? +Sales target: 800 million yen in year ending March 31, 2023, rising to 1.2 billion yen in year ending March 31, 2025


2. Toray Group circular economy initiatives 


Reference

Refineverse Group website

https://r-inverse.com/



More News from Toray Engineering Co. Ltd.

#Man-Made Fibers

Toray develops AURLIST™ polyester filament fiber with luxurious luster and ultra-fine structure

Toray Industries has developed AURLIST™, a new polyester filament fiber designed to combine luxurious luster, soft loft and a subtle fibrillated surface texture. The company primarily targets applications in women’s apparel such as tops, bottoms and dresses.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Toray develops recycling technology that retains carbon fiber strength and surface quality

Toray Industries, Inc., announced today that it has developed a recycling technology that can decompose diverse carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) made from thermosetting resins while retaining the strength and surface quality of those fibers. The company drew on this technology to create a nonwoven fabric employing recycled carbon fibers.

#Composites

HEAD launches more sustainable(1) BOOM RAW racquet on Earth Day by using Toray’s bio-circular carbon fibers

HEAD continues to innovate with the launch of the BOOM RAW tennis racquet, an encouraging development in the search for a more sustainable future for racquet sports. All of the carbon fibers are bio-circular carbon fibers in the limited-edition and highly innovative BOOM RAW racquet, which offers the same explosive power - along with the same fun, feel and easy playability - as the regular, in-line BOOM racquet. The bio-circular carbon fibers are manufactured by Toray and its subsidiary Toray Carbon Fibers Europe.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Companies in Japan initiate demonstration to expand the automotive recycling process

DENSO CORPORATION and other partners have been chosen by an industry-government-academia collaborative project aiming to expand the recycle content for automobile in the fiscal year 2023 supported by Ministry of the Environment, Japan.

More News on Recycling / Circular Economy

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Indorama Ventures advances circularity tthrough PETValue Philippines' “Zero Waste to Landfill Partnership” with Republic Cement

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, a global sustainable chemical company, is advancing the circular economy through a new Zero Waste to Landfill initiative at its recycling site PETValue Philippines, further demonstrating how collaboration across industries can maximize resource efficiency and reduce waste.

#Research & Development

Networking Day 2026: Industry stakeholders unite around textile recycling

In 2026, the Industry Research Group (IRG) Polymer Recycling once again brought together some of the key stakeholders in textile recycling for its annual Networking Day. This year, the event took place at EREMA’s premises in Ansfelden, Austria. It brought together key players from across the textile recycling value chain for a day of structured exchange and in-depth discussions.

#Europe

EU ban on destroying unsold clothing and footwear now in force

The European Union's ban on the destruction of unsold clothing, clothing accessories and footwear has entered into force. Since July 19, 2026, large companies across the EU have been prohibited from destroying unsold textile products, while medium-sized companies will be required to comply with the same rules from 2030.

#Recycling / Circular Economy

Circ launches first denim collection with H&M featuring TENCEL™ | Circ® with REFIBRA™ technology

Circ today announced that the first men's denim collection featuring TENCEL™ | Circ® with REFIBRA™ technology is now available at H&M, marking the commercial delivery of this unique pilot project first announced in October 2025. Featuring two styles available across the UK, Scandinavia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, South Europe, Turkey, North America, Mexico, Canada, and the Middle East, the launch brings TENCEL™ | Circ® with REFIBRA™ technology into H&M's standard men's denim assortment for the first time.

Latest News

#ITMA 2027

ITMA 2027 receives strong industry response

ITMA 2027 has unveiled its sector plan, marking progress towards the 2027 edition as planning continues ahead of the show. The ITMA 2027 sector plan covers 12 halls at the Messegelände Hannover venue, spanning over 180,000 square metres, and features 20 sectors of the textile and garment making processes, from spinning to finishing, software and automation, recycling, and fibres, yarns and fabrics.

#Heimtextil 2027

Heimtextil expands Bed, Bath & Living with new ‘Comfort & Connect’ area

Heimtextil is expanding its product range for Bed, Bath & Living in a targeted manner: ‘Comfort & Connect‘ is creating a new meeting place in the foyer of Hall 5.1 for high-quality bed, bath and lifestyle collections. Following on from ‘Sleep & Meet‘, this is now the second area where Heimtextil is further refining its offering for exhibitors and buyers. The new area brings together established brands, high-profile returning exhibitors and international buyers in a central location with easy access.

#Associations

Business situation weakens slightly, but the industry stays cautiously optimistic

The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) has published the results of its 39th Global Textile Industry Survey (GTIS), conducted from 14 to 22 July 2026 among companies along the entire global textile value chain. Worldwide, 10% of participants rated their business situation as good, 53% as satisfactory and 37% as bad — a balance of -26pp, down from -17pp in May but still well above the 2023 lows. All regions are now in negative territory, from South Asia at -3pp to North & Central America at -58pp.

#Man-Made Fibers

Ministry of Industry Delegation visits NatureWorks’ second global manufacturing site at Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex

NatureWorks Asia Pacific Limited welcomed a high-level delegation led by Mr. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Industry, to its manufacturing site at the Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex (NBC). The visit follows the successful inauguration of the site on April 29, 2026, and highlights the role of public-private collaboration in advancing Thailand’s sustainable industrial development and bioeconomy ambitions.

TOP