Shifting from Linear to Circular: How Sustainable Salons is Leading the Change

In today’s world, many industries—including the hair industry—operate on a linear economy model, where products are made, used, and discarded as waste. Think of common salon items like foils, plastic bottles, and colour tubes. These products often end up in landfills, contributing to pollution and resource depletion. This “take-make-waste” approach is both inefficient and unsustainable.

At Sustainable Salons, we are transforming the way salons manage resources by embracing a circular economy. In a circular model, we work to keep materials in use for as long as possible, extracting the maximum value before recycling or repurposing them.

In a traditional linear economy, the journey of a typical salon product—like hair colour tubes or plastic packaging—follows a clear pattern. The product is created from raw materials, used once, and then discarded. Over time, this waste accumulates, leading to significant environmental damage. For example, aluminium foils used in hair colouring are often thrown away after a single use, even though the material could be recycled indefinitely.

This is the kind of waste that the circular economy is designed to eliminate. Instead of throwing away resources, we aim to repurpose them.

At Sustainable Salons, we’ve embedded the circular economy into the very core of our operations. We partner with salons across Australia and New Zealand to recycle up to 95% of their waste, diverting tons of materials from landfills. Salon items like metal foils, hair clippings, and plastics are collected and sent to specialised facilities where they can be repurposed into new products. For example:

• Hair is turned into hair booms used to soak up oil spills.
• Chemicals are recycled, and the water used in construction.
• Plastic bottles are processed and reformed into products like combs, plant pots and even sunglasses!

This approach not only reduces waste but also helps to close the loop, ensuring that valuable resources are continually cycled through the economy.

By being part of the Sustainable Salons community, our members actively contribute to this circular economy. Every foil, bottle, or hair clipping they send our way is one less piece of waste ending up in a landfill. Members also have access to a rewards store, promoting a sustainable cycle where their commitment to recycling helps them save on salon essentials.

Our mission to create an ecosystem that enables a positive impact on the planet aligns perfectly with circular economy principles. Together with our members, we’re shifting from a take-make-waste model to a sustainable, circular approach that benefits both the planet and the salon industry.

Join us in making every salon experience sustainable.

Source:

https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/what-is-the-linear-economy