How trinamiX’s NIR Scanner Identifies Nylon 6 vs. 6.6

— A Game Chan­ger for Tex­ti­le Recycling

Last updated: June 2025 — now includes links to modu­lar upgrades and use cases across Europe.

In Janu­ary 2024, BASF issued a press release high­light­ing a key inno­va­ti­on in cir­cu­lar tex­ti­le pro­ces­sing: the abili­ty to distin­gu­ish bet­ween Nylon 6 (PA6) and Nylon 6.6 (PA6.6) — a chall­enge long faced by recy­clers and sor­ters alike.

As a sub­si­dia­ry of BASF, tri­na­miX has com­mer­cia­li­zed this breakth­rough with its mobi­le NIR spec­tro­sco­py solu­ti­on. At Solid Scan­ner, we’re proud to dis­tri­bu­te this tech­no­lo­gy across Europe.

Why Nylon 6 vs. 6.6 Identification Matters

Though both poly­ami­des are wide­ly used in garm­ents, car­pets, and tech­ni­cal tex­ti­les, PA6 and PA6.6 can­not be recy­cled tog­e­ther wit­hout com­pro­mi­sing qua­li­ty. Incor­rect sort­ing leads to con­ta­mi­na­ti­on, pro­ces­sing inef­fi­ci­en­ci­es, and lost value.

His­to­ri­cal­ly, recy­clers had to rely on lab test­ing or sub­jec­ti­ve methods to veri­fy mate­ri­al type — slo­wing down sort­ing and intro­du­cing risk. tri­na­miX has chan­ged that.

Real-Time NIR Analysis with trinamiX

trinamiX’s hand­held NIR scan­ner is the first mobi­le device (to our know­ledge) that can distin­gu­ish bet­ween Nylon 6 and Nylon 6.6 in real time, with no lab, no delays, and no batch testing.

Using a dedi­ca­ted PA 6 / PA 6.6 appli­ca­ti­on, the scan­ner provides:

• Clear iden­ti­fi­ca­ti­on of the domi­nant nylon type
• Con­fi­dence levels (high, medi­um, low) to sup­port sort­ing decisions
• Color-coded out­put: green for PA6, red for PA6.6, gray if inconclusive

To see how it works step-by-step, visit our tech­ni­cal deep dive:
👉 Nylon 6 vs. 6.6: How to Iden­ti­fy Them in Real Time

In addi­ti­on to poly­ami­des, the tri­na­miX NIR spec­tro­me­ter can iden­ti­fy a wide ran­ge of pla­s­tics, inclu­ding PE, PP, PET, and ABS, making it a ver­sa­ti­le invest­ment for any orga­niza­ti­on invol­ved in mate­ri­al ana­ly­sis or recycling.

Learn more about tri­na­miX NIR spec­tro­me­ter solu­ti­ons for tex­ti­le and pla­s­tic recycling.

Where This Solution Fits in Textile Recycling

Modu­lar and upgradeable, the tri­na­miX tex­ti­le scan­ner is alre­a­dy in use by recy­clers across Ger­ma­ny, France, and Spain — whe­re poly­a­mi­­de-rich mate­ri­als like PA car­pets, sports­wear, and tech­ni­cal tex­ti­les are a core part of the was­te stream.

Even small and mid-sized ope­ra­tors can start with basic tex­ti­le sort­ing and later add the PA detec­tion app when nee­ded — wit­hout repla­cing hardware.

💡 The scan­ner is also com­pa­ti­ble with fast sort­ing apps and semi-auto­­ma­­ted table inte­gra­ti­on — making it ide­al for hands-on sort­ing workflows.

Learn more about how this modu­lar sys­tem sup­ports recy­clers of all sizes:
👉 Tex­ti­le Recy­cling with NIR – tri­na­miX Solu­ti­on Overview

trinamiX + loopamid®: Closing the Loop with PA6

The ori­gi­nal BASF press release also refe­ren­ced loo­pa­mid®, a new PA6-based cir­cu­lar tex­ti­le mate­ri­al. The abili­ty to distin­gu­ish bet­ween PA6 and PA6.6 is cri­ti­cal in sup­port­ing clo­­sed-loop recy­cling of this kind — and the tri­na­miX scan­ner makes it prac­ti­cal at the field level.

Read the full BASF announce­ment here:
👉 BASF Press Release: Sup­port­ing Cir­cu­la­ri­ty in Tex­ti­les (Janu­ary 2024)

Want to See It in Action?

We offer tri­na­miX demo devices, test runs and advice on which con­fi­gu­ra­ti­on is sui­ta­ble for recy­cling com­pa­nies, QA teams and pro­cess engi­neers and how it can be modu­lar­ly expanded.

👉 Check pro­duct opti­ons and pri­cing here
👉 Cont­act us for a gui­ded demo or consultation