Recycled Nylon has the same benefits as recycled polyester: It diverts waste from landfills and its production uses much fewer resources than virgin nylon (including water, energy and fossil fuel). Econyl® is one good example of a certified, eco-friendly, recycled nylon textile. …

The production of nylon is similar to that of polyester, with similar environmental consequences. Like polyester, nylon is made from a non-renewable resource (oil) in an energy-intensive process. Econyl is made of nylon waste from landfills and oceans in a closed-loop process and is infinitely recyclable.

Uses of Nylon

• Clothing – Shirts, Foundation garments, lingerie, raincoats, underwear, swimwear and cycle wear.
• Industrial uses – Conveyer and seat belts, parachutes, airbags, nets and ropes, tarpaulins, thread, and tents.
• It is used to make a fishnet.
• It is used as plastic in manufacturing machine parts.

Nylon and polyester Made from petrochemicals, these synthetics are non-biodegradable as well, so they are inherently unsustainable on two counts. Nylon manufacture creates nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 310 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Nylon’s impact on the planet. The flip side is that no form of nylon is biodegradable; so once you no longer have a need for your torn stockings or old toothbrush, it sits in a landfill for hundreds of years. Nylon is in part derived from coal and petroleum.

At the heart of it all, nylon is very bad for the planet. It isn’t biodegradable (it won’t decay naturally in the ground), and creates a greenhouse gas that is over 300 times stronger than carbon dioxide. This has awful implications for the environment.

30 to 40 years

Nylon is a nontoxic material made from petroleum. Nylon polymers are theoretically unreactive and not considered particularly harmful, However, some people who are sensitive to materials made from petroleum may react to nylon.