Interface turned ghost nets into carpet yarn

Carpet manufacturer Interface had committed in 1994 to eliminating its negative environmental impact entirely under its 'Mission Zero' pledge, which meant sourcing more of its nylon fiber from recycled rather than virgin petroleum-based material — a supply chain problem with no obvious large-scale source of the right kind of waste nylon.

Separately, discarded and abandoned fishing nets — 'ghost nets' — made up roughly 10% of marine waste worldwide by UN Environment Programme estimates, entangling marine life and damaging reef and coastal ecosystems, while the coastal fishing communities that generated this waste, particularly in the Philippines, had no market for old nets and often no way to earn income beyond the fishing itself.

In 2012 Interface launched Net-Works with the Zoological Society of London and yarn maker Aquafil: fishing communities in the Philippines collected discarded nets and sold them into local community banks for supplemental income, Aquafil regenerated the nylon into ECONYL recycled yarn through a closed-loop process that could be repeated indefinitely without degrading quality, and Interface used the yarn directly in its carpet tiles — turning an ocean pollutant into a raw material supply chain paid for at the source.

Bought the waste directly from fishing communities, turning disposal into income, then regenerated the nylon into yarn through a closed loop that never degrades.

Fishing communities had no market for old nets, so they were willing to sell them cheaply.

Paying through local banks gave fishers income and built trust, ensuring steady collection.

Aquafil's closed-loop recycling turned the nets into quality nylon yarn, meeting Interface's supply need.

The material match was exact, so no new technology was needed, only a new connection.

When your raw material is another industry's waste, buy it directly from the source to create supply and solve their disposal problem.

The program collected tens of thousands of kilograms of waste fishing net through its Philippine hubs (Danajon Bank, the Bantayan Islands and Northern Iloilo) and generated hundreds of community bank memberships giving fishing families access to savings and microfinance for the first time, later expanding to Cameroon's Lake Ossa region; across its first years the program collected over 300 metric tons of waste net, supported more than 2,000 families, and helped protect over 5,000 hectares of ocean habitat.