Latest report shows that hairdressers across Belgium are beginning to sweep up and bag hair clipped from their customers and handing them over to an NGO that recycles it to protect the environment.
Tagged the Hair Recycle, the project feeds locks and tresses into a machine that turns them into matted squares that can be used to absorb oil and other hydrocarbons polluting the environment, or made into bio-composite bags.
Whilst that 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) of hair can absorb 7-8 litres (1.8-2.1 U.S. gallons) of oil and hydrocarbons, Project Co-founder Patrick Janssen said the mats could be placed in drains to soak up pollution in water before it reaches a river.
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“Our products are all the more ethical as they are manufactured locally … they are not imported from the other side of the planet. They are made here to deal with local problems,’ he was quoted to have said by Reuters.
The project said on its website that hair has powerful properties: one strand can support up to 10 million times its weight, and absorb fat and hydrocarbons, it is water-soluble and highly elastic due to its keratin fibres.
Isabelle Voulkidis, manager of the Helyode salon in Brussels, is one of dozens of hairdressers across the country that pay a small fee to the project to collect their hair cuttings.
“What motivates me, personally, is that I find it a shame hair is nowadays just thrown in the bin when I know that so much could be done with it,” she said, as she combed and clipped one of her customer’s hair.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
