Trento, Italy–based Aquafil, a producer of polyamide (nylon 6), announced the opening of its first carpet recycling facility in the United States. Aquafil Carpet Recycling ACR #1 will invest $10 million in a leased 116,890-square-foot building in Phoenix, AZ, to set up its technology to recycle nylon 6 waste from carpets back into raw material, further enhancing its pioneering Econyl Regeneration System.

Aquafil claims that the Econyl Regeneration System is the only technology in the world capable of regenerating nylon 6 from carpets and other waste, including fishing nets. Each year in the United States, an astonishing four billion pounds of carpet is discarded in landfills, the equivalent of 6,060 humpback whales, the company claims in its announcement.