Every haircut, colour appointment and salon treatment creates waste.

There is the obvious waste we see every day: hair swept from the floor, used highlighting foils, empty colour tubes, disposable towels and product packaging.

Then there is the waste we don't always see: leftover colour, chemicals washed down the sink and valuable materials placed into general waste.

But how much waste does the UK hairdressing industry actually produce?

There is currently no single official dataset measuring all waste produced specifically by UK hair salons. Green Salon Collective has therefore combined available industry data, our own salon recycling data and transparent estimates to begin quantifying the scale of the problem.

UK salon waste statistics at a glance

The UK hair and beauty industry is substantial.

50,400
hair, barbering and beauty businesses are registered for VAT and/or PAYE across the UK.*

2.2 billion
hairdressing foils could be used by UK consumers annually, based on our estimate of salon colour frequency and average foil use.

6,700 tonnes of hair is cut every year in the UK

600+ tonnes
of salon colour chemicals are estimated to be wasted in the UK every year.

250+ tonnes
of hair, metals, towels and other salon waste have already been diverted from disposal through Green Salon Collective.

And these figures only begin to describe the materials passing through the UK's salons every year!

What waste does a hair salon produce?

A typical hair salon produces multiple different waste streams every day.

Some can be handled through conventional recycling services. Others require specialist recycling.

Common salon waste includes:

• human hair
• aluminium highlighting foils
• aluminium colour tubes
• leftover hair colour and chemicals
• disposable towels
• gloves and other PPE
• product bottles and containers
• cardboard and paper packaging
• aerosols
• general waste

Hair, used foils and colour tubes are particularly interesting because they are generated directly by hairdressing services and can be difficult to recycle through conventional commercial waste systems.

They are also produced in surprisingly large quantities when individual services are scaled across the entire UK hairdressing industry.

What would 170 kg per salon mean across the UK?

An average salon generates between 150 and 200 KG of salon waste annually. This is where salon waste becomes a much bigger issue.

There are 50,400 registered hair, barbering and beauty businesses in the UK, according to the National Hair & Beauty Federation's 2025 industry statistics.

All generating a sizeable amount of waste! From salon specific waste like hair, foils and colour tubes, to waste generated across all hair and beauty businesses like product bottles, towels and general waste. 

How many hairdressing foils are used in the UK every year?

Aluminium is one of the hairdressing industry's most visible waste streams.

Based on our modelling of the number of UK consumers receiving professional colour services, their annual frequency of salon colouring and approximately 50 individual foils per relevant colour service (as we're sure stylists know, this is a conservative estimate as many services will use more than this!), we estimate that the UK could use in the region of:

2.2 billion hairdressing foils every year.

This is an estimate rather than a measured industry total, but it illustrates the extraordinary scale created by a very small item.

One foil doesn't look like much.

Multiply it by billions and salon foil becomes a substantial material stream.

That matters because aluminium doesn't need to be used once and thrown away.

Used salon foils collected through specialist recycling can be processed and returned to the material cycle. Recycling aluminium also requires around 95% less energy than producing primary aluminium from newly mined material.

The opportunity isn't simply to get rid of salon foil more responsibly.

It's to keep a valuable material in circulation.

How much hair waste do UK salons produce?

Every haircut creates another unusual waste stream: human hair. It's estimated that we generate around 6,500-6700 tonnes of hair waste across the country. 

Unlike cardboard boxes or plastic bottles, the only solution for hair recycling is a specialist recycling service like Green Salon Collective.

That means salon hair has traditionally been swept into a general waste bin.

But hair is a material.

Through Green Salon Collective, waste salon hair has been explored or used in more than 15 applications and projects, including hair booms for absorbing oil from waterways, hair mats, composting and growing trials, biomanufacturing, construction materials and other research projects.

How much hair colour is wasted by UK salons?

Physical items aren't the only source of salon waste.

Hair colour itself is also routinely wasted.

Green Salon Collective's research into chemical waste estimated that the average salon studied used approximately 85.3 kg of colour chemicals per year.

Of this, approximately:

22.9 kg (26%) was wasted.

Scaled across the industry, the research estimated that more than 600 tonnes of salon chemicals are wasted in the UK annually.

Financially, the research estimated that this represents more than £2,500 of wasted product per salon per year.

Chemical waste can occur because too much colour is mixed, formulations are inaccurate or unused product remains after a service.

Unlike an aluminium tube, this waste cannot simply be placed in a conventional recycling bin. Reducing the amount mixed in the first place is therefore particularly important.

Where does salon waste go?

Where salon waste ends up depends on both the material and the waste service used by the salon.

Cardboard, paper and some packaging may be suitable for conventional commercial recycling.

Hairdressing waste is more complicated.

Used highlighting foils can contain colour residue. Colour tubes can contain both chemical residue and plastic components. Cut hair has few conventional recycling routes.

As a result, materials that technically have value can still end up being placed in general waste.

Specialist salon recycling creates another route.

For example, hairdressing foil collected by Green Salon Collective undergoes a re-melt process. This removes coatings and residual hair colour, allowing aluminium to be recovered and returned to manufacturing.

Hair can meanwhile be directed towards a range of reuse, recycling and research projects.

How much salon waste is currently being recycled?

This is one of the industry's biggest unanswered questions.

There is currently no comprehensive national dataset recording what percentage of UK hairdressing waste is recycled.

Green Salon Collective's own collections give us one indication of the scale of specialist salon recycling.

Since Green Salon Collective began, our salon community has diverted more than:

250,000 kg of salon waste

from conventional disposal routes.

That's more than 250 tonnes of hair, aluminium foils, colour tubes, compostable towels and other salon materials given another route.

It is an important milestone.

But compared with the potential size of the UK hairdressing industry's waste stream, it also demonstrates how much more there is to do.

Frequently asked questions

How much waste does a hair salon produce?

Based on Green Salon Collective recycling volumes, a salon seeing approximately 100 clients per week could generate around 170 kg of recyclable hair and metal waste per year. This does not represent all salon waste and excludes streams such as general waste, cardboard and plastics.

How much waste does the UK hairdressing industry produce?

There is currently no authoritative national figure measuring all waste generated specifically by UK hair salons. Green Salon Collective is developing industry estimates using salon recycling data, service volumes and published industry research.

How many hairdressing foils are used in the UK?

Green Salon Collective estimates that approximately 2.2 billion individual hairdressing foils could be used annually in the UK, based on estimated professional colour frequency and an assumption of approximately 50 foils per relevant service. 

How much hair colour do salons waste?

Green Salon Collective research estimates that an average salon wastes approximately 22.9 kg of colour chemicals per year, equivalent to around 26% of the colour chemicals used in the salons studied. The research estimated UK-wide waste at more than 600 tonnes annually.

Can salon hair be recycled?

Yes. Cut human hair can be used in a range of applications rather than being placed in general waste. Green Salon Collective has worked on more than 15 uses and research projects for waste hair, including hair booms, mats, growing projects and new materials.

Can used salon foils be recycled?

Yes. Used hairdressing foil can be recycled through specialist salon recycling services even when it contains residual hair colour. Green Salon Collective's collected foil is processed through a re-melt process so that the aluminium can be recovered.