For more than 15 years Zeftron Nylon's 6ix Again program has collected and recycled waste commercial carpet, turning used nylon 6 - a type of nylon that is infinitely recyclable - into brand new nylon.

Richard Ranke, Zeftron's marketing specialist, spoke with GreenBiz Radio about Zeftron's Cradle-to-Cradle certification and how it's 6ix Again program helps find alternate uses for unwanted carpet.

Jonathan Bardelline: First off, could you tell me a bit about Zeftron Nylon and how it is a Cradle-to-Cradle product?

Richard Radke: I think the great thing about nylon 6 is that the Evergreen process really allows infinite opportunities for the recycling of nylon 6, and from a physical standpoint there's really no limit to the number of times nylon 6 can be recycled. Some recycling processes can produce a lesser quality product, but the Evergreen process really makes first quality nylon again and again. 

So our Zeftron Nylon really takes advantage of that and through our 6ix Again program is able to make first quality nylon again and again with no loss of performance or coloring possibilities either. I guess the Cradle-to-Cradle part really comes in, too, from the standpoint of, in laymen's terms, recycling nylon 6 can be likened to water being frozen into ice and then melted, frozen again, melted, frozen again, and you can do that again and again, and you don't have any loss of those physical properties of the water no matter how many times the operation is performed like that. 

And that's kind of what happens with our nylon 6 as well and specifically our Zeftron Nylon. You can do this process again and again, so it is true closed-loop recycling.

JB: And does the nylon 6 contain any recycled content?

RR: Recycled content - yes, it does. That is something - when you use the term Cradle-to-Cradle, MBDC - McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry - they've certified us, actually, and that is really our customers' assurance that the Zeftron Nylon is manufactured responsibly, but also that it contains the stated 25 percent recycled content. While it's possible there is some post-consumer content in Zeftron Nylon, the greater percentage is actually preconsumer waste at this point, but the waste that we get that from is generated in another industry, not just the carpet industry. 

And while that stuff would normally be landfilled, we use it and put it back into the carpet fiber again. The other thing I'd like to point out there really is that we really need everyone's help in getting carpet recycled so that we'll have that material to increase recycled content percentages like we'd like to do in the future.

JB: And that leads us into what I was going to ask you about the 6ix Again program for recycling carpets. Could you tell me a bit about that?

RR: Zeftron Nylon really has been a leader in sustainability for years, and one thing I think is interesting is that even when we initially produced our nylon products over 40 years ago, we incorporated recycling within that process, in the manufacturing process. So that experience - it really has allowed us to develop the 6ix Again program, and that was developed over 15 years ago. 6ix Again was designed really as an alternative to landfill disposal. 

The heart of the 6ix Again program is our service center. When you reach the service center you get expert help in determining what you can do with the carpet that you have on the floor, and that expert help is really as easy as pushing 11 numbers on your phone. It's 1-800-839-3233, and when you call that number you're gonna get a hold of a person that is really a facilitator who will inform you about the options that are available for your specific carpet that you have on the floor. 

It even will go to the extent of sending you a self-addressed envelope, postage-paid of course, and then that's available to mail back a sample so we can figure out what the carpet is that you have on the floor. And then if the carpet is nylon 6, it'll be eligible for the true closed-loop recycling program. If the carpet's nylon 6,6 downcycling or waste-to-energy could be a solution. And then as far as who gives carpet basically, who is eligible, it really is anyone. Anyone is eligible for the program.