Evergreen said that higher-than-expected production costs, combined with current business and economic conditions for caprolactam in general, led to the decision to suspend operations.

Evergreen, a joint venture between DSM Chemicals North America and Honeywell International, is the world's largest commercial nylon recycling facility. Evergreen's Augusta facility, which utilizes nylon 6 recycle technology jointly developed by DSM and Honeywell, has been operating at about 60% of its 45,000 tons per year capacity.

The joint venture partners have determined that further capital investment will be required to improve the recycle production costs to a more competitive level under normal conditions.