When I write about recycling I tend to think of the type of rubbish that’s often found cluttering up our streets and other public places but which could so easily have been placed in a recycling bin… cardboard, paper, plastics and glass. One thing I’d never considered was hair salon waste including hair! KH Hair, which has 20 salons across the East Midlands, celebrated its five-year partnership with the Green Salon Collective www.greensaloncollective.com during the annual National Recycle Week which took place last week.

Apparently, during the partnership, its salons have diverted over eight tonnes of waste from going to landfill – think the weight four adult male giraffes… It’s also collected 5.2 tonnes of foils and colour tubes (about 12 times as heavy as an average riding horse) and 2.87 tonnes of hair (as heavy as five average adult grizzly bears)! KH Hair managing director, Darren Messias, says the Group has always felt a strong sense of responsibility in how it disposes of the waste its salons produce. “Recycling and sustainability continue to be vitally important for the future of our planet and we really want to try to play our part,” he explains. “The by-product of this relationship is that our teams and clients can see that we are very conscious of the need to preserve our environment and not be sending all our waste to landfill. By partnering with the GSC, we’re actively reducing our environmental footprint, supporting ethical recycling, and contributing to a cleaner, greener future for our industry.”

The GSC works with hair salons across the UK and Ireland to recycle and repurpose items that would usually end up in landfill. Through its various programs, these materials are transformed into new products, clean energy, or safely disposed of in an environmentally responsible way. Since its launch in July 2020, it’s diverted from landfill over 250 tonnes of hair, foil, colour tubes, towels and other salon waste. It also recycles hair in 10 different ways – from oil spill clean ups to art and design projects, and even composting.

GSC co-founder Paul Seaward says KH is setting a great example of what can happen when a company truly commits to sustainability. “It’s not just about the impressive number, it’s about the culture of change behind it, with its teams making better choices every day.” he explains. “KH Hair’s commitment shows the positive impact our industry can have when we work together to keep valuable resources out of landfill and give salon waste a new purpose."

This goes to show just what can be achieved when people commit to working together to make a difference, don’t you think? I’m going to be looking into the 10 different ways hair can be recycled, since I’m fascinated by the concept. I’ll share my findings with you when I know more…