Teijin was a pioneer in both, the development of technology to reuse end-of-life nylon fishing nets and establishing a business segment for these items. Kinoshita Fishing Net participated in this project from its inception in 2002. Then, when Teijin withdrew from the production of nylon, the project came to an end. But, in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake tragedy, our company acknowledged the importance of addressing the reduction and recycle of fishing nets that had already reached the end of their life cycle.
Itochu, in cooperation with Aquafil –the company that has developed the largest brand in the world for regenerated nylon, "ECONYL®"–, is engaged in the circular economy of fishing nets. Kinoshita Fishing Net has worked together with these two companies since the inception of the partnership as a full member. Kinoshita Fishing Net's main role in the team has been to build the collection system for the end-of-life fishing nets, which are one type of waste used to produce ECONYL® nylon.
ECONYL® is entirely made of waste, including, end-of-life products such as old carpets and fishing nets, but also industrial waste such as fabric scraps from mills and others, ECONYL® nylon is used as a material in industries like fashion, carpet flooring, automotive and fishing.
Nowadays, recycled nylon is considered to be an environmentally friendly material. At present, more than 2,000 high-end-brand companies all over the world rely on ECONYL® to manufacture all or part of their products.