DTU-Denmark 2025 - NomNomNylon
Bio-upcycling nylon textile waste into the textile dye indigoidine.
Fast fashion produces vast amounts of nylon waste that are difficult to recycle by conventional means, leading to landfill, incineration and microplastic release. NomNomNylon proposes a circular, biology-based solution: an enzymatic pretreatment step uses engineered nylonases (NylC variants) to depolymerize nylon fibers into soluble monomers such as 6-aminohexanoate (Ahx) and hexamethylenediamine (HMDA), and a downstream microbial valorization stage converts these degradation products into new, value-added compounds. The project combines enzyme engineering and high-throughput screening with metabolic pathway design in robust hosts to demonstrate a scalable bio-upcycling pipeline. NomNomNylon aims to divert textile waste from disposal, recover carbon and nitrogen from synthetic fibers, and produce sustainable feedstocks for dyes and possibly also for cosmetics or specialty chemicals, advancing circularity in the fashion industry while addressing environmental pollution.
In the DryLab, computational and systems modelling provide the foundation for rational design and process optimisation. Structural bioinformatics and molecular docking are used to predict how engineered NylC variants interact with nylon oligomers and how mutations may enhance substrate binding and catalytic efficiency. Kinetic and thermodynamic models are developed to simulate the enzymatic depolymerisation process, enabling the prediction of conversion rates under varying temperature, pH and salt conditions typical of textile waste streams. Beyond the enzyme level, a process-scale model integrates monomer release, microbial conversion, and downstream recovery to assess yield and resource requirements. Finally, life-cycle and techno-economic analyses evaluate the environmental and economic impact of the proposed bioprocess compared with conventional recycling and incineration. Together, these computational insights guide experimental efforts and ensure that NomNomNylon’s bio-upcycling concept is both scientifically robust and industrially feasible.