Georgia Governor Nathan Deal recently visited Aquafil’s headquarters in Arco, Italy, as part of a trade mission to garner more business for the state. The yarn manufacturer has two plants in Cartersville, Ga., and recently announced it will invest $10 million to open its first U.S. carpet recycling facility in Phoenix.

Aquafil Carpet Recycling (ACR #01) will recycle the Nylon 6 waste from carpets back into raw material through the company’s Econyl Regeneration System, the only technology capable of regenerating Nylon 6 from carpets and other waste, including fishing nets, according to the company.

Each year in the U.S., four billion pounds of carpet is discarded in landfills, according to Aqufil. Once operational, ACR #01 will have the capacity to collect and treat 35 million pounds of carpet per year. The company aims to have the facility operational in 2018.

“We’re not comfortable with the status quo--in this case that less than 5% of carpet waste is recycled,” said Giulio Bonazzi, Aquafil CEO. “We know Nylon 6 waste can be powerful with the proper technology, and we’re honored to call Phoenix home to that power with ACR #1.”

ACR #01 is expected to create 50 new jobs and will repurpose waste that is otherwise destined for landfill, getting Aquafil closer to the company’s goal of producing Econyl yarn from 100% post-consumer waste.

“We want to recycle as much carpet as possible by establishing a number of these facilities throughout the U.S.,” Bonazzi said. “This activity will be closely connected to our fishing net recycling efforts, which diverts millions of pounds of waste from our oceans.”

For more information, visit www.aquafil.com.