Nylons (polyamides) are the second most-produced synthetic fiber globally, but they are not biodegradable and even their monomeric constituents are difficult for microbes to consume. The breakdown of nylon 6,6 and nylon 6 leads to a mixture of carbon/nitrogen monomers (adipic acid, AA; hexamethylenediamine, HMDA; 6-aminocaproic acid, 6-ACA) that are costly to separate for chemical valorization, are toxic to many bacteria, and for which no known species can consume all three as a mixture. Here, we metabolically engineer Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 to simultaneously catabolize 6-ACA, HMDA, and AA. An in vitro assay is used to identify transaminases and aldehyde dehydrogenases to convert HMDA to 6-ACA to AA, which A. baylyi naturally consumes. Their genes are integrated into the genome and their expression tuned to optimize flux and overcome toxicity. The resulting strain grows on nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 hydrolysates as the sole source of carbon and nitrogen. AA is converted by A. baylyi to central metabolites (acetyl-coA, succinyl-coA) and this species is easily engineered, making it a potential bio-manufacturing platform for upcycling plastic waste. As a proof-of-principle, we demonstrate the production of the platform chemical triacetic acid lactone (TAL) using nylon-derived monomers as the substrates.