Toray and Honda validate chemical recycling of GFR nylon 6 auto parts

Toray Industry and Honda Motor inked an agreement to jointly develop a chemical recycling technology for glass-fiber reinforced (GFR) nylon 6 parts recovered from end-of-life vehicles. The two parties have begun verifying this technology, which includes depolymerizing with subcritical water and regenerating materials as caprolactam, a raw monomer.

Framework of Toray and Honda’s chemical recycling technology validation.

Subcritical water is water at high temperatures and pressures, with characteristics of high permeability, dissolving power and hydrolysis effect in resins. It is free of catalysts and additives do not affect it.

It can depolymerize nylon 6 in several dozen minutes to create high yields of raw monomer. Separating, refining and repolymerizing monomer allows regenerating nylon 6 that performs like virgin material.

Pilot facility set up for validation

Toray and Honda set up a pilot facility with processing capacity of 500 metric tons annually of raw resin, conducting validation testing with the facility. The first step of the project is to recycle used automotive plastic parts into the same automotive materials.

The two companies will develop depolymerization, monomer separation and refining technologies by employing intake manifolds as raw materials for engine intake system parts. They seek to apply these technologies for recycling chemicals in automotive resin parts by around 2027.

Furthermore, the project is expected to broaden the application of chemical recycling technology to encompass apparel, films and other non-automotive applications. Such endeavor would help cut greenhouse gas emissions and achieve circular economy.