26-05-2025
Recycled hair? What happens to your off-cuts after a visit to the hairdresser
What happens to the hair the hairdresser cuts off your head? And why would it end up in any other place but the bin?
Over the past 10 years, Sustainable Salons has collected more than 100,000kg of human and pet hair from salons across Australia and New Zealand to create sustainable products.
"Hair hasn't always been a waste material," Sustainable Salons founder Paul Frasca said.
"For example, some of the things we found in history books were that hair is really good in soil, but there was no data. It also says that hair is really good to put in building materials. And like, great, but there's no data, because these things were done 500 years ago."
While many are familiar with people donating their ponytails for the creation of wigs - and Sustainable Salons has had more than 285,000 donated for just that - there are other options regular hair cuts can be used for.
It all started with hair booms - large hair sausages, made out of the collected clippings encased in nylon - that are deployed to soak up oil spills in the ocean, or deployed in waterways to clean up oil for local councils.
"We read a story about how hair was used to clean up an oil spill in America about 30 years ago. We're like, that's interesting, but we contacted them and they had no data, so we had to ask, 'Does it actually work?," Mr Frasca said.
"So we started collecting amounts of hair, and we contacted UTS in Sydney, and we said, 'There is this idea about cleaning up oil spills, and we just want to investigate it a bit more.' And we had a student, Rebecca, who then took on the subject, and we started studying it. And funnily enough, it turned out hair is a great absorber of oil, so that's how it all started."
From there, Sustainable Salons entered the world of gardening, where hair was also used to create a soil treatment called Soilz Alive.
When hair breaks down, it delivers an organic and dynamic dose of keratin, which conditions and renews the soil.
Sustainable Salons is also about to enter the construction industry, producing hair-based bricks, and also releasing a world-first technology.
"We found out - and this took about four years of [research and development] is how to turn hair into graphite," Mr Frasca said.
"Graphite can be a part of the conductor system for OLED displays, solar panels and batteries.
"It's fantastic research that we did, and we're actually looking at doing the first product next year, maybe a battery or something that charges your phone."
Hair is just one thing Sustainable Salons collects. The hairdressers and pet groomers that sign up for the program get six different recycling bins to collect plastics, metals such as aluminium foil and colour tubes, excess chemicals and old hair equipment such as hairdryers.
Without this program, about 90 per cent of items used within hairdressers would not be recycled, as it is considered chemically contaminated.
For all of these collection programs, it's not just a matter of disposing of them correctly, it's about creating circularity. So in the case of the excess chemicals, primarily hydrogen peroxide, it's processed to be turned into water and oxygen.
And the old equipment is broken down into pieces, the e-waste is recycled, and the plastic parts, which are heat-resistant, are turned into things such as combs.
"The plastics actually get complicated because they're heat resistant and they usually have layers on them, so they're not easy, and we've got to find different brokers for them," Mr Frasca said.
"How it works in the recycling world, the way I best put it is, we're above ground miners and commodities change daily. So plastic could have a value to it, and the next day it's actually a cost. So you're trying to constantly balance out when is the right time to actually sell your materials."
There are more than 1500 salon businesses part of the Sustainable Salons across Australia, including 36 in the Canberra region, which have helped divert more than 244,000kg of materials to landfill. One such company is Pura Holistic Hair, which has salons in Narrabundah and Gold Creek.
Having worked previously in salons that had been part of the Sustainable Salon program, Pura Holistic Hair owner Blair Lewis knew that she wanted to implement it in her own hairdresser when she opened a few years ago.
"Hairdressing has a huge carbon footprint and huge toxic load, as you can imagine," Ms Lewis said.
"So from the chemicals from different services, whether it be colour, perming, straightening, sprays, all of those things, plus the things they're packaged in, and then the foils that we use on the hair. There are so many different things.
"If you think about how much stuff we use in a space, and beyond, when clients are taking products home, we have the option to either make a huge impact, positively on the environment or not."
But for Ms Lewis, Sustainable Salons is just the beginning.
All of the products they use and sell are sourced from biodynamic farms, sold in amber glass bottles with aluminium lids that have been recycled from other products.
They also have a worm farm on site where they compost their tea leaves that are offered to clients to take home, using any empty glass bottles leftover from the hair products used.
"If we can think about it beyond, 'We can put it in these bins,' that's awesome," Ms Lewis said.
"Sustainable Salons do amazing things, but also, how can we reduce going in there in the first place? So I think because we do have the ability to make a real positive change in the environment, I think it's actually super important."
What happens to the hair the hairdresser cuts off your head? And why would it end up in any other place but the bin?
Over the past 10 years, Sustainable Salons has collected more than 100,000kg of human and pet hair from salons across Australia and New Zealand to create sustainable products.
"Hair hasn't always been a waste material," Sustainable Salons founder Paul Frasca said.
"For example, some of the things we found in history books were that hair is really good in soil, but there was no data. It also says that hair is really good to put in building materials. And like, great, but there's no data, because these things were done 500 years ago."
While many are familiar with people donating their ponytails for the creation of wigs - and Sustainable Salons has had more than 285,000 donated for just that - there are other options regular hair cuts can be used for.
It all started with hair booms - large hair sausages, made out of the collected clippings encased in nylon - that are deployed to soak up oil spills in the ocean, or deployed in waterways to clean up oil for local councils.
"We read a story about how hair was used to clean up an oil spill in America about 30 years ago. We're like, that's interesting, but we contacted them and they had no data, so we had to ask, 'Does it actually work?," Mr Frasca said.
"So we started collecting amounts of hair, and we contacted UTS in Sydney, and we said, 'There is this idea about cleaning up oil spills, and we just want to investigate it a bit more.' And we had a student, Rebecca, who then took on the subject, and we started studying it. And funnily enough, it turned out hair is a great absorber of oil, so that's how it all started."
From there, Sustainable Salons entered the world of gardening, where hair was also used to create a soil treatment called Soilz Alive.
When hair breaks down, it delivers an organic and dynamic dose of keratin, which conditions and renews the soil.
Sustainable Salons is also about to enter the construction industry, producing hair-based bricks, and also releasing a world-first technology.
"We found out - and this took about four years of [research and development] is how to turn hair into graphite," Mr Frasca said.
"Graphite can be a part of the conductor system for OLED displays, solar panels and batteries.
"It's fantastic research that we did, and we're actually looking at doing the first product next year, maybe a battery or something that charges your phone."
Hair is just one thing Sustainable Salons collects. The hairdressers and pet groomers that sign up for the program get six different recycling bins to collect plastics, metals such as aluminium foil and colour tubes, excess chemicals and old hair equipment such as hairdryers.
Without this program, about 90 per cent of items used within hairdressers would not be recycled, as it is considered chemically contaminated.
For all of these collection programs, it's not just a matter of disposing of them correctly, it's about creating circularity. So in the case of the excess chemicals, primarily hydrogen peroxide, it's processed to be turned into water and oxygen.
And the old equipment is broken down into pieces, the e-waste is recycled, and the plastic parts, which are heat-resistant, are turned into things such as combs.
"The plastics actually get complicated because they're heat resistant and they usually have layers on them, so they're not easy, and we've got to find different brokers for them," Mr Frasca said.
"How it works in the recycling world, the way I best put it is, we're above ground miners and commodities change daily. So plastic could have a value to it, and the next day it's actually a cost. So you're trying to constantly balance out when is the right time to actually sell your materials."
There are more than 1500 salon businesses part of the Sustainable Salons across Australia, including 36 in the Canberra region, which have helped divert more than 244,000kg of materials to landfill. One such company is Pura Holistic Hair, which has salons in Narrabundah and Gold Creek.
Having worked previously in salons that had been part of the Sustainable Salon program, Pura Holistic Hair owner Blair Lewis knew that she wanted to implement it in her own hairdresser when she opened a few years ago.
"Hairdressing has a huge carbon footprint and huge toxic load, as you can imagine," Ms Lewis said.
"So from the chemicals from different services, whether it be colour, perming, straightening, sprays, all of those things, plus the things they're packaged in, and then the foils that we use on the hair. There are so many different things.
"If you think about how much stuff we use in a space, and beyond, when clients are taking products home, we have the option to either make a huge impact, positively on the environment or not."
But for Ms Lewis, Sustainable Salons is just the beginning.
All of the products they use and sell are sourced from biodynamic farms, sold in amber glass bottles with aluminium lids that have been recycled from other products.
They also have a worm farm on site where they compost their tea leaves that are offered to clients to take home, using any empty glass bottles leftover from the hair products used.
"If we can think about it beyond, 'We can put it in these bins,' that's awesome," Ms Lewis said.
"Sustainable Salons do amazing things, but also, how can we reduce going in there in the first place? So I think because we do have the ability to make a real positive change in the environment, I think it's actually super important."
What happens to the hair the hairdresser cuts off your head? And why would it end up in any other place but the bin?
Over the past 10 years, Sustainable Salons has collected more than 100,000kg of human and pet hair from salons across Australia and New Zealand to create sustainable products.
"Hair hasn't always been a waste material," Sustainable Salons founder Paul Frasca said.
"For example, some of the things we found in history books were that hair is really good in soil, but there was no data. It also says that hair is really good to put in building materials. And like, great, but there's no data, because these things were done 500 years ago."
While many are familiar with people donating their ponytails for the creation of wigs - and Sustainable Salons has had more than 285,000 donated for just that - there are other options regular hair cuts can be used for.
It all started with hair booms - large hair sausages, made out of the collected clippings encased in nylon - that are deployed to soak up oil spills in the ocean, or deployed in waterways to clean up oil for local councils.
"We read a story about how hair was used to clean up an oil spill in America about 30 years ago. We're like, that's interesting, but we contacted them and they had no data, so we had to ask, 'Does it actually work?," Mr Frasca said.
"So we started collecting amounts of hair, and we contacted UTS in Sydney, and we said, 'There is this idea about cleaning up oil spills, and we just want to investigate it a bit more.' And we had a student, Rebecca, who then took on the subject, and we started studying it. And funnily enough, it turned out hair is a great absorber of oil, so that's how it all started."
From there, Sustainable Salons entered the world of gardening, where hair was also used to create a soil treatment called Soilz Alive.
When hair breaks down, it delivers an organic and dynamic dose of keratin, which conditions and renews the soil.
Sustainable Salons is also about to enter the construction industry, producing hair-based bricks, and also releasing a world-first technology.
"We found out - and this took about four years of [research and development] is how to turn hair into graphite," Mr Frasca said.
"Graphite can be a part of the conductor system for OLED displays, solar panels and batteries.
"It's fantastic research that we did, and we're actually looking at doing the first product next year, maybe a battery or something that charges your phone."
Hair is just one thing Sustainable Salons collects. The hairdressers and pet groomers that sign up for the program get six different recycling bins to collect plastics, metals such as aluminium foil and colour tubes, excess chemicals and old hair equipment such as hairdryers.
Without this program, about 90 per cent of items used within hairdressers would not be recycled, as it is considered chemically contaminated.
For all of these collection programs, it's not just a matter of disposing of them correctly, it's about creating circularity. So in the case of the excess chemicals, primarily hydrogen peroxide, it's processed to be turned into water and oxygen.
And the old equipment is broken down into pieces, the e-waste is recycled, and the plastic parts, which are heat-resistant, are turned into things such as combs.
"The plastics actually get complicated because they're heat resistant and they usually have layers on them, so they're not easy, and we've got to find different brokers for them," Mr Frasca said.
"How it works in the recycling world, the way I best put it is, we're above ground miners and commodities change daily. So plastic could have a value to it, and the next day it's actually a cost. So you're trying to constantly balance out when is the right time to actually sell your materials."
There are more than 1500 salon businesses part of the Sustainable Salons across Australia, including 36 in the Canberra region, which have helped divert more than 244,000kg of materials to landfill. One such company is Pura Holistic Hair, which has salons in Narrabundah and Gold Creek.
Having worked previously in salons that had been part of the Sustainable Salon program, Pura Holistic Hair owner Blair Lewis knew that she wanted to implement it in her own hairdresser when she opened a few years ago.
"Hairdressing has a huge carbon footprint and huge toxic load, as you can imagine," Ms Lewis said.
"So from the chemicals from different services, whether it be colour, perming, straightening, sprays, all of those things, plus the things they're packaged in, and then the foils that we use on the hair. There are so many different things.
"If you think about how much stuff we use in a space, and beyond, when clients are taking products home, we have the option to either make a huge impact, positively on the environment or not."
But for Ms Lewis, Sustainable Salons is just the beginning.
All of the products they use and sell are sourced from biodynamic farms, sold in amber glass bottles with aluminium lids that have been recycled from other products.
They also have a worm farm on site where they compost their tea leaves that are offered to clients to take home, using any empty glass bottles leftover from the hair products used.
"If we can think about it beyond, 'We can put it in these bins,' that's awesome," Ms Lewis said.
"Sustainable Salons do amazing things, but also, how can we reduce going in there in the first place? So I think because we do have the ability to make a real positive change in the environment, I think it's actually super important."
What happens to the hair the hairdresser cuts off your head? And why would it end up in any other place but the bin?
Over the past 10 years, Sustainable Salons has collected more than 100,000kg of human and pet hair from salons across Australia and New Zealand to create sustainable products.
"Hair hasn't always been a waste material," Sustainable Salons founder Paul Frasca said.
"For example, some of the things we found in history books were that hair is really good in soil, but there was no data. It also says that hair is really good to put in building materials. And like, great, but there's no data, because these things were done 500 years ago."
While many are familiar with people donating their ponytails for the creation of wigs - and Sustainable Salons has had more than 285,000 donated for just that - there are other options regular hair cuts can be used for.
It all started with hair booms - large hair sausages, made out of the collected clippings encased in nylon - that are deployed to soak up oil spills in the ocean, or deployed in waterways to clean up oil for local councils.
"We read a story about how hair was used to clean up an oil spill in America about 30 years ago. We're like, that's interesting, but we contacted them and they had no data, so we had to ask, 'Does it actually work?," Mr Frasca said.
"So we started collecting amounts of hair, and we contacted UTS in Sydney, and we said, 'There is this idea about cleaning up oil spills, and we just want to investigate it a bit more.' And we had a student, Rebecca, who then took on the subject, and we started studying it. And funnily enough, it turned out hair is a great absorber of oil, so that's how it all started."
From there, Sustainable Salons entered the world of gardening, where hair was also used to create a soil treatment called Soilz Alive.
When hair breaks down, it delivers an organic and dynamic dose of keratin, which conditions and renews the soil.
Sustainable Salons is also about to enter the construction industry, producing hair-based bricks, and also releasing a world-first technology.
"We found out - and this took about four years of [research and development] is how to turn hair into graphite," Mr Frasca said.
"Graphite can be a part of the conductor system for OLED displays, solar panels and batteries.
"It's fantastic research that we did, and we're actually looking at doing the first product next year, maybe a battery or something that charges your phone."
Hair is just one thing Sustainable Salons collects. The hairdressers and pet groomers that sign up for the program get six different recycling bins to collect plastics, metals such as aluminium foil and colour tubes, excess chemicals and old hair equipment such as hairdryers.
Without this program, about 90 per cent of items used within hairdressers would not be recycled, as it is considered chemically contaminated.
For all of these collection programs, it's not just a matter of disposing of them correctly, it's about creating circularity. So in the case of the excess chemicals, primarily hydrogen peroxide, it's processed to be turned into water and oxygen.
And the old equipment is broken down into pieces, the e-waste is recycled, and the plastic parts, which are heat-resistant, are turned into things such as combs.
"The plastics actually get complicated because they're heat resistant and they usually have layers on them, so they're not easy, and we've got to find different brokers for them," Mr Frasca said.
"How it works in the recycling world, the way I best put it is, we're above ground miners and commodities change daily. So plastic could have a value to it, and the next day it's actually a cost. So you're trying to constantly balance out when is the right time to actually sell your materials."
There are more than 1500 salon businesses part of the Sustainable Salons across Australia, including 36 in the Canberra region, which have helped divert more than 244,000kg of materials to landfill. One such company is Pura Holistic Hair, which has salons in Narrabundah and Gold Creek.
Having worked previously in salons that had been part of the Sustainable Salon program, Pura Holistic Hair owner Blair Lewis knew that she wanted to implement it in her own hairdresser when she opened a few years ago.
"Hairdressing has a huge carbon footprint and huge toxic load, as you can imagine," Ms Lewis said.
"So from the chemicals from different services, whether it be colour, perming, straightening, sprays, all of those things, plus the things they're packaged in, and then the foils that we use on the hair. There are so many different things.
"If you think about how much stuff we use in a space, and beyond, when clients are taking products home, we have the option to either make a huge impact, positively on the environment or not."
But for Ms Lewis, Sustainable Salons is just the beginning.
All of the products they use and sell are sourced from biodynamic farms, sold in amber glass bottles with aluminium lids that have been recycled from other products.
They also have a worm farm on site where they compost their tea leaves that are offered to clients to take home, using any empty glass bottles leftover from the hair products used.
"If we can think about it beyond, 'We can put it in these bins,' that's awesome," Ms Lewis said.
"Sustainable Salons do amazing things, but also, how can we reduce going in there in the first place? So I think because we do have the ability to make a real positive change in the environment, I think it's actually super important."
