Belgians turn recycled human hair into matted squares that absorb oil

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The squares of hair cuttings are used to absorb oil and other hydrocarbons polluting the environment. /Yves Herman/Reuters

Hairdressers in Belgium are helping the environment – by recycling human hair clippings from their customers.

The plan, reasonably titled the Hair Recycle project, involves hairdressers sweeping up and bagging the hair clippings before handing them over to an NGO which recycles it.

The Hair Recycle project puts the hair into a machine which turns them into matted squares. The squares are then used to absorb oil and other hydrocarbons polluting the environment. Alternatively, they can also be used to make bio-composite bags.

Hairdressers across Belgium pay a small fee for the project to collect their cuttings. /Yves Herman/Reuters

Project co-founder Patrick Janssen says a kilogram of hair can absorb between seven and eight liters of oil and hydrocarbons, explaining that the mats can be placed in drains to soak up pollution in water before it reaches a river.

"Our products are all the more ethical as they are manufactured locally," he said. "They're not imported from the other side of the planet, they're made here to deal with local problems."

The Hair Recycle project puts the hair into a machine which turns them into matted squares. /ReutersYves Herman

There are around a dozen hairdressers across Belgium who pay a small fee for the project to collect their cuttings.

Among those is Isabelle Voulkidis, the manager of the Helyode salon in Brussels.

She said: "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."

Source(s): Reuters