Japanese chemicals giant Toray (Tokyo; www.toray.com) has developed Ecouse Amilan, a recycled PA 6.6 grade said to achieve the same flow and mechanical properties as a virgin injection moulding material.

The company said the resin is developed from PA 6.6 recovered from silicone-coated airbag scrap supplied by Japanese materials recycling company Refinverse (Tokyo; https://r-inverse.com), which is the first company in Japan to achieve commercial-scale recycling of silicone-coated fabric.

The supplier combined additives with the recycled material to achieve the flow and mechanical properties, and it noted that the resin is also made in a way to stop any residual silicone from migrating to the surface of molded products, and the rPA 6.6 grade also greatly reduces mould adhesion.

In August 2022 already, Toray announced that it has developed the world’s first 100% bio-based adipic acid, a raw material for PA 6.6, made from sugars in inedible biomass.

The company first discovered microorganisms that produce an adipic acid intermediate from sugars. It said sugars from crop residues and other inedible plant resources are fed into a microbial fermentation system and then passed through membrane-based purification to make adipic acid.

The company has started to scale up capabilities to produce the feedstock, with plans to test PA 6.6 polymerisation, develop production technology, conduct market research, and take steps to commercialise applications by around 2030.