Epoch Biodesign to open world's largest nylon 6,6 biorecycling facility in London

UK biotechnology company Epoch Biodesign is set to open Europe’s first and the world’s biggest nylon 6,6 biorecycling demonstration facility. 

The global leader in enzymatic recycling, the plant will open at Grapht Works, Imperial College in North Acton, London, the city’s new pilot manufacturing facility. The announcement comes a month after Epoch Biodesign closed a 12 million US dollar strategic funding round, where it received investment from Canadian activewear brand Lululemon, Kompas VC, Happiness Capital, Extantia, and Leitmotif (a VC backed by Volkswagen). 

Marking the next step in Epoch Biodesign’s scale-up trajectory, the new facility will be capable of processing hundreds of tonnes of post-consumer nylon 6,6 waste annually. Epoch Biodesign uses AI-designed enzymes to break down end-of-life nylon 6,6 waste, including airbag fabric, elastane blends, and used apparel, into virgin-quality building blocks that can re-enter the supply chain with no loss in performance. The process is said to be more selective and lower-carbon than standard chemical recycling.

Epoch Biodesign uses funding to open nylon 6,6 biorecycling demonstration facility

The new facility is in line with incoming EU ESPR regulations, which, from July 2026, will ban the destruction of unsold clothing. With less than 1 percent of textiles recycled into new textiles today, the need for innovative, scalable solutions for recycling mixed nylon waste is at an all-time high. According to a 2022 report from McKinsey & Company, textile recycling at scale could help solve Europe’s waste problem, with an 18 to 26 percent fiber-to-fiber recycling rate achievable by 2030.

“One of the most important advantages of our biological process is what it does not do. It does not require high temperatures. It does not demand the heavy industrial infrastructure that has historically meant manufacturing must be sited far from where people live and work,” said Jacob Nathan, founder and CEO of Epoch Biodesign, in a statement.

“The Grapht Works facility sits inside a broader urban neighbourhood in London. The fact that we can build and operate a nylon 6,6 recycling plant in Greater London is not incidental; it is a feature of the clean, low-energy process our team has developed. This is what genuinely circular, industrial biochemistry looks like.” 

The demonstration facility, set to open sometime during the third quarter of 2026, builds on the company’s growing commercial push. Earlier this year, Epoch Biodesign signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Invista, a global leader in the production of nylon 6,6, to accelerate the development of post-consumer recycled nylon 6,6 at commercial scale. 

"The Grapht Works plant has the capacity to process hundreds of tonnes of post-consumer nylon 6,6 waste a year: this is sourced from apparel and automotive products, as well as various industrial applications,” added Luciano Caruso, Chief Commercial Officer at Epoch Biodesign, in a statement. 

“New EU regulations require these industries to confront what they do with end-of-life nylon, and incineration or landfill are no longer acceptable answers. The new plant validates our biological process both technically and commercially, demonstrating to industry partners and policymakers that a truly circular, clean, and economically viable route to nylon recycling exists today. This is the start of a sustainable, resilient supply chain of a critical material, without the pricing volatility associated with petrochemical-derived products.”

Founded in London in 2019, Epoch Biodesign has raised more than 50 million US dollars from investors, including Lululemon, Lowercarbon Capital, Extantia, Kompas VC, Happiness Capital, Leitmotif, and Inditex's Mundi Ventures. A T2T Alliance member, the company is also working with EU policymakers to help make circular materials the industry standard while constructing its second biorecycling facility.