O.Z. 0050/43205 Caprolactam is recovered from polycaprolactam by hydrolytic cleavage of polycaprolactam with from 5 to 50 parts by weight of water per part by weight of polycaprolactam at from 200 to 350.degree.C under superatmospheric pressure to give an aqueous solution or suspension which contains monomeric caprolactam and oligomers thereof and may contain polycaprolactam and subsequent isolation of monomeric caprolactam from the aqueous solution or suspension by distillation or extraction, by a process in which the hydrolytic cleavage is carried out in the presence of an alkali metal hydroxide at a pH of from 5 to 10.
