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Hair
Hair is one of the most underestimated renewable resources out there. That’s why we’ve done the research and developed new ways to use recycled hair.
Hair clippings have been viewed as waste for too long. Their untapped potential is absolutely staggering, and here at Sustainable Salons, we’re changing the way we view and use hair clippings.
Human hair is organic matter, and in our experience, most types of organic matter have a TON of uses. Hair is gentle on the planet and more sustainable than you could ever imagine – it just keeps on growing!
The good news is it’s not just the hair nerds at Sustainable Salons that care about this stuff – your clients do too.
of hair recycled so far, collected from salon floors, barbers and pet groomers
What do we accept?
Yes
- Hair Clippings
- Ponytails
- Virgin/Natural Hair
- Coloured Hair
- Human Hair Extensions
- Clean, dry pet hair from body and legs
No
- Synthetic Hair
- Metal Clips
- General Waste
- Pet hair from sanitary area
- Pet hair that’s matted, dirty, has fleas or poo
What do we do with all that hair?
Hair Booms
Synthetic booms and chemical dispersants cause damaging long term side effects on the environment.
Hair booms however, are an organic alternative that’s even more effective at soaking up oil. A standard boom can soak up to 4L of oil and can even be drained and reused up to two more times. Talk about the power of hair!
How are booms made?
To make a hair boom, a filter stocking is stretched over a piece of pipe, then hair and fur is stuffed into it. Once it’s packed in we simply tie it up then BOOM you’ve got a hair boom!
And there you have it, hair and fur that’s been swept up by our members get a second life.
We’ve done our research
Thanks to our salon members, Sustainable Salons supplied Rebecca Pagnucco (pictured with Sustainable Salons Co-Founder Paul Frasca) with all the recycled hair clippings she could possibly need for her Masters research at the University of Technology Sydney...and it was all worth it! Her final results showed that "not only is hair capable of adsorbing oil at high rates, but hair is also relatively more efficient at adsorbing oil than other materials."
Research Paper: Comparative efficacy of hair and commercial sorbents used in crude oil remediation (2017)
Rebecca now works as a Principal Policy Officer for the NSW Environmental Protection Agency
Booms in action
Kirkalocka Station
In July 2021, an oil tanker on its way to the mines spilt 33,000L of oil into the Kirkalocka creek.
Thanks to the hair collected from all our members, we were able to dispatch 1000 hair booms to help soak it all up!
Mauritius Oil Spill
In July 2020, a ship ran aground on a reef in Mauritius, sparking an ecological disaster.
Sustainable Salons worked with the ground teams in Mauritius to help advise how to deploy hair booms.
Commercial industry, local council projects & government contracts
We provide hair booms to companies to soak up leakages from machines during manufacturing.
We also work with local Sydney councils to supply hair booms for water entrapments.
Hairy Tech
At the moment, flexible OLED displays are manufactured using sophisticated synthetic chemistry and heavy metals that are harvested from the earth. This means the devices become toxic pollutants when discarded.
We want to help change that.
Sustainable Salons has partnered with QUT and Griffith University to research how human hair can help create more environmentally sustainable OLED displays at a much lower cost. The research also involved how once processed, recycled hair can help stabilise solar panels so they’re more effective and last longer!
We've done our research
Sustainable Salons has been supporting Amandeep Singh Pannu, from Queensland University of Technology (QUT), in his amazing research on how human hair can be used instead of heavy metals in flexible OLED displays and solar panels. Sounds crazy right? Well it’s all possible thanks to hair being 45% carbon. Amandeep and his team developed “high performance, high luminescent carbon dots from the abundantly available biowaste of human hairs.”
Research Paper: Biowaste-Derived, Self-Organized Arrays of High-Performance 2D Carbon Emitters for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (2020)
They created a process where hair is heated to extreme temperatures so only carbon dots are left. Special agents are then added to make them luminescent!
Hairy Soil
Across Australia & New Zealand more than half a million kilos of hair ends up in landfill each year. If there’s one thing we’ve learnt, it’s that hair being an organic resource deserves a place back on planet earth.
We've done our research
Sustainable Salons partnered with industry leaders, enrich360 and ACE Solutions, to unearth the full potential of recycled hair as an additive material in fertiliser. The results exceeded expectations finding that “human hair is a safe and pathogen-free compost material. The balanced level of micro & macro nutrients supports beneficial bacteria and enhances yield.”
Yep, hair holds valuable nutrients like amino acids, nitrogen, calcium and iron that supercharges soil into a high grade fertiliser!
Other materials we collect
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Metals
By recycling metals, like salon foils and colour tubes, we contribute to a greener future and also generate proceeds to feed those in need. -
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Plastics
With the salon industry's heavy use of plastics, we knew a real impact can (and has!) been made by recycling it all and creating sustainably stylish new products. -
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Paper
Whether it’s the magazines that keep your clients occupied, cardboard packaging from your products, wooden spatulas or just plain old office paper, we’ve got you covered. -
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Ponytails
Ponytail donations from your salon clients can be used to create high-quality charitable medical wigs for those suffering medically induced hair loss. -
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Chemicals
Instead of salon chemicals being rinsed down the sink and polluting our waterways, we help give them a second life by neutralising them to be reused as recycled water. -
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Sharps
Sustainable Salons is on a mission to “move the needle” and ensure your clinic's sharps are disposed of ethically and responsibly, preventing sharps from going to landfill. -
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Disposables
We made it easy breezy to ensure your disposables are efficiently processed and diverted from landfill, reducing the environmental impact of the salon industry. -
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Razors
We divert razors from going to landfill and ensure they are safely processed and recycled. Like other materials we collect, razors can be made into new products. -
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Tools
Tools like hair dryers, clippers, curling wands and straighteners can all be collected, recycled responsibly and diverted from landfill. -
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& More
Not sure whether or not you can recycle a certain material? Take a look to see what other resources we can collect, recycle and give a meaningful second life.
