Aquafil to collect Fishing Gear and Nets in collaboration with Salmon de Chile and Atando Cabos S.p.A. to recycle Nylon 6 Material for reuse

Goals of the partnership are to protect the oceans from ghost nets and reduce the carbon footprint of the salmon industry in Chile

ARCO, ITALY, MARCH 4, 2022 - Aquafil S.p.A. [ECNL IM] has entered into an agreement to collaborate with the Salmon de Chile, the Chilean Salmon Marketing Council and Atando Cabos S.p.A, a cleantech organization focused on recycling plastics to help preserve the ecosystem of Patagonia.

The goal of the partnership is to collect and recycle old aquaculture fishing nets that currently pose a massive waste challenge for the industry.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, salmon aquaculture is the fastest growing food production system in the world, accounting for 70% (2.5 million metric tons) of the market. Southern Chile supplies almost a third of all farmed salmon across the globe. In recent years the government and salmon industry in Chile have made strides to ensure socially responsible salmon farming.

The collaboration with Aquafil is another step to decrease pollution, reduce the industry's carbon footprint, and ensure that as much material used in the processes are upcycled and not contributing to the waste stream. The partnership is based on a four-year work plan that will include the collection, recycling, measurement, and reporting processes that will make this effort successful.

"At Aquafil we are committed to a more sustainable, circular economy and this partnership is an expansion of our ability to collect, recycle, and regenerate different nylon waste into ECONYL® that will be used to create beautiful products such as swimwear, bags, shoes, clothing, carpets, furniture, automotive parts, and more. We will be establishing operations in Chile with an investment of €10 million and creating approximately 30 jobs," says Giulio Bonazzi, CEO and chairman of Aquafil Group. "This operation in Chile will be focused on working to recover and recycle all nylon 6 from fishing gear, nets and other waste across Chile and potentially the rest of South America in collaboration with industry and government leaders."

"We are excited to collaborate with Aquafil on this important collection and recycling initiative," said Arturo Clément, president of SalmonChile. "The experience that we have gained with Comprometidos con el Mar initiative (Commit with the Ocean), recovering thousands of kilometers of coastal edge by collecting waste, will be of great help for this agreement with Aquafil, which has great experience in recycling. We see this effort as a significant advancement for the industry and environmental conservation efforts in Chile."

"At Atando Cabos we know that it is possible to lead a profitable business and make a positive impact, across the entire value chain. Through this agreement, we want to continue giving a new life to the waste that is polluting the environment, ensuring the traceability of the material. This alliance is taking us into the circular economy 2.0 and it fills us with great enthusiasm to carry out this initiative", explains Julio Compagnon, co-founder of Atando Cabos.

Aquafil has successfully implemented this type of initiative in Norway in partnership with Nofir, a leading European player in the collection and processing of fishing and aquaculture nets at the end of their life cycles. Recently Aquafil entered the capital of Nofir and thanks to the experience acquired in the field, it will apply best practices from this effort to the new partnership in Chile.

The Chilean partnership, represents another step forward the strategy already launched in December 2020 with the acquisition of Planet Recycling (now Aquafil Carpet Collection), recovering post-consumer carpets and rugs between Arizona and California. It embodies an important move for Aquafil's mission, further strengthening the supply chain in a circular perspective, avoiding the use of landfill or incineration.

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ABOUT AQUAFIL

Aquafil is a pioneer in the circular economy also thanks to the ECONYL® regeneration system, an innovative and sustainable process able to create new products from waste and give life to an endless cycle. The nylon waste is collected in locations all over the world and includes industrial waste but also products - such as fishing nets and rugs - that have reached the end of their useful life. Such waste is processed to obtain a raw material - caprolactam - with the same chemical and performance characteristics as those from fossil sources. The polymers produced from ECONYL® caprolactam are distributed to the Group's production plants, where they are transformed into yarn for rugs, carpet flooring, and for clothing. Founded in 1965, Aquafil is one of the main producers of nylon in Italy and worldwide. The Group is present in seven countries and in three different continents, with over 2,800 employees at 19 production sites located in Italy, Slovenia, United States, China, Croatia, Scotland, Thailand and Japan. For more information, visit: https://www.aquafil.com/ or @Aquafil Group.

About ECONYL® Regenerated Nylon

ECONYL® is a brand of regenerated nylon that is made from recycled waste instead of oil and is also regenerable an infinite number of times without any compromise in quality. ECONYL® yarn helps divert global waste streams that would otherwise pollute the Earth such as fishnets, carpet and industrial plastic. Designers use ECONYL® to produce a wide range of textile products such as sportswear, swimwear, bags, eyewear and carpets. For more information, visit www.econyl.com or @ECONYL.

About SalmonChile and Comprometidos con el Mar

SalmonChile is the principal salmon farming association in Chile. It is made up of 48 members belonging to national and multinational companies. Comprometidos con el Mar a is a salmon farmers' campaign that has removed more than 25,000 cubic meters of waste from the beaches over the last six years. This project has made it possible to recover more than 5,000 kilometers of coastline through collaborative work with artisanal fishermen and municipalities, among others. For more information, visit https://www.comprometidosconelmar.cl/.

About Atando Cabos

Atando Cabos is a cleantech company focused in cleaning the world of plastic waste, using the same plastics as a tool. Atando Cabos transforms this waste into high-value products with full traceability and by doing this ensures that this waste never returns to the environment.
Atando Cabos developed T.R.S.T., a technology that allows to trace the positive impact of their work throughout the cycle: from the most remote place anywhere in the world to the final product, allowing the exact origin of each plastic waste to be identified.

Media Contact

Jacqueline Chen Valencia

CONNECTIVE Agency

jacq@connectiveagency.com

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Aquafil S.p.A. published this content on 04 March 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 04 March 2022 12:55:02 UTC.