Abstract:
The invention relates to a process for recovering monomeric units of a nylon from whole carpet comprised of fibres comprised of said nylon and a backing comprised of non-nylon components, which fibres are bound to the backing, the whole carpet containing between 15 and 35 wt.% of said nylon, which process comprises the steps of
a) mechanically separating the whole carpet into a beneficiated carpet mixture which contains between 35 and 55 wt.% of said nylon and into a depleted carpet mixture b) exposing the beneficiated carpet mixture to conditions at which depolymerization of said nylon is effected.