Closing the EcoMade Loop

With the introduction of Tactel and Supplex EcoMade fibers, The Lycra Company has added polyamide 6 offerings its portfolio to sustainable alternatives. What does this achievement represent for your brand and your long-term environmental commitments? This innovation demonstrates our commitment to improving the sustainability of our offerings. Our strategic intent is to treat improvements to the sustainability of our offerings as a journey towards circularity. We recognize the need for our offerings to have: technical performance equal to virgin products, as well as a competitive price that enables adoption in the market. These latest additions to our EcoMade family of sustainable fibers meet these objectives.


Could you provide more details about the recycled content in these two fibers? What type of raw material is used, what is the percentage of recycled content, and which certifications support your claims?Both our Supplex and Tactel EcoMade fiber offerings are certified by SCS Global Services with Global Recycled Standard certification confirming they contain 50% recycled pre-consumer PA6 polymer.  By offering these items in both FDY and DTY nylon filaments, we have a compelling offering for swimwear, athleisure, sportswear, and performance wovens.

Polyamides are the last fibers in your range to be converted. Why was nylon addressed after elastane and polyester?We chose to focus on our Lycra, Coolmax, Thermolite, and Lycra T400 fibers first because they are our global flagship platforms that support nearly all segments of the textile market. Our polyamide fiber portfolio is a more regional offering serving mainly the USMCA, CAFTA-DR, and South American regions.

Tacel and Supplex fiber are known for their softness and performance in intimate apparel and activewear. How have you ensured that the EcoMade versions retain the same feel and technical performance?Our fiber offerings are produced using the same fiber spinning processes as our virgin offerings, and they are tested against our standard quality control testing protocols to ensure comparable performance.

Can your nylon EcoMade versions themselves be recycled, and what is the yield impact or loss involved in the recycling process?Tactel and Supplex EcoMade fibers are made from conventional PA6 polymer chemistry, and as such, they are technically suitable to be used as new feedstocks for PA6 recycling processes.

Where are these new yarns being manufactured, and are there regional supply options available to serve different markets efficiently? Are you ready for scaling?The Lycra Company manufactures these new offerings exclusively at our facility in Mexico, which means they are USMCA-qualified yarns. We are ready to scale with offerings in both FDY and DTY versions from 40-156dtex in fine and course filament counts.

How do the EcoMade versions compare in terms of cost versus the virgin options, and how are brands responding to the pricing?The new Supplex and Tactel EcoMade offerings will deliver comparable performance to virgin PA-6 and be priced competitively with virgin PA-6,6.

Will a 6,6 version be available in the near future?  Yes, however, we are still in the development stage, in which we are exploring multiple technical approaches for a PA6,6 fiber with recycled content. The PA6,6 polymer chemistry is more complex than PA6, which makes separating the monomers and preparing them for re-polymerization a greater challenge.