Every day, hair salons sweep up huge amounts of cut hair. It might seem harmless enough, but once it goes into the general waste bin, it becomes part of a much bigger salon waste management problem.

So, what should you actually do with it?

Is hair compostable? Can hair clippings go into compost? Or is recycling hair a better option for salons?

The short answer is yes, human hair is compostable. But hairdressers should know more about what happens to hair after it leaves the salon floor.

Is hair compostable?

Yes. Human hair is a natural material and can break down through composting.

Hair is primarily made from keratin, a tough protein that also makes up our fingernails. Because keratin is relatively resistant to decomposition, hair does not disappear as quickly as softer organic materials such as food scraps or grass cuttings.

Given the right conditions and enough time, however, microorganisms can break hair down.

That means composting hair is possible, and hair clippings do not necessarily need to be treated as general salon waste.

The bigger question is whether putting hair straight into your salon's compost bin is actually the best way to deal with it.

How long does hair take to compost?

Hair can take considerably longer to break down than many of the materials people traditionally associate with composting.

Exactly how long depends on factors including moisture, temperature, microbial activity, the size and density of the hair and the conditions within the compost itself.

A large, compact clump of salon hair is likely to decompose much more slowly than small amounts of hair distributed throughout an active composting system.

This is one reason salon hair recycling can offer more possibilities than simply putting every haircut into a compost bin.

At Green Salon Collective, collected hair can be diverted into a range of useful applications rather than being thrown away.

Can hair be good for compost and soil?

Hair contains nitrogen, which is an important nutrient for plant growth and healthy compost.

As hair gradually decomposes, it releases nutrients into the surrounding material. Hair can therefore have potential uses in composting, soil improvement and horticultural research.

But that does not mean a salon should simply empty a day's worth of hair clippings onto a compost heap.

Large quantities can mat together, which can affect how easily air and moisture move through the compost. For a professional salon producing significant volumes of hair every week, having a proper hair recycling system is generally a more practical way to manage the material.

What happens if salon hair goes into general waste?

This is the part many salons overlook.

If cut hair is swept into the general waste bin, its potential value is lost.

That means all the hair will go to landfill, and start contributing to climate change by releasing methane!

Think about how often your salon sweeps the floor.

One haircut might not look like much waste. Multiply that by every client, every stylist, every working day and every year, and suddenly you are dealing with a significant amount of material.

This is why separating hair should form part of a salon's wider salon waste management strategy.

Instead of asking:

"Can we throw this away?"

A better question is:

"What could this material become next?"

Recycling hair gives it another purpose

Composting hair is only one potential option.

When salons recycle hair through Green Salon Collective, collected hair can be explored and used across a wide range of applications.

These include:

• Composting and soil improvement
• Hair booms and mats for absorbing oil
• Research and development
• New biomaterials
• Environmental projects

Green Salon Collective has developed more than 15 potential uses for waste hair.

That means the hair swept from beneath your client's chair does not automatically have to become rubbish.

It can become a resource.

Hair can even help clean up oil

One of the most unusual applications for recycled hair is creating hair booms and mats that can help adsorb oil.

Hair naturally attracts oils, making it an interesting material for environmental clean-up applications.

Green Salon Collective has worked on projects that turn waste hair from salons into hair booms that can be deployed as part of oil clean-up and environmental initiatives.

It is a brilliant example of circular thinking.

The haircut happens anyway.

The hair already exists.

The question is whether we throw it away or find another use for it.

What other salon waste can be recycled?

Hair is only one part of the problem.

A typical hair salon can produce a mixture of waste including:

• Hair clippings
• Aluminium foil
• Colour tubes
• Paper
• Plastics
• Used towels
• General waste

Putting everything into the same bin makes it difficult for valuable materials to be recovered.

Effective salon waste management starts with separation.

By separating different waste streams within the salon, materials such as hair and metals can be collected and sent to appropriate recycling or recovery routes instead.

It does not need to make running the salon more complicated either.

The goal should be to make recycling as normal as sweeping the floor after a haircut.

Is recycling hair better than composting it yourself?

For a salon, there are several advantages to using a dedicated hair recycling service rather than trying to compost large quantities of hair yourself.

Firstly, it gives the hair access to a wider range of potential uses.

Secondly, it creates a consistent system for the whole team. Instead of individual staff members deciding what happens to waste, everyone knows which materials go where.

Thirdly, it allows your salon to deal with hair alongside other difficult salon waste streams.

You might be able to compost some hair yourself, but what about your used foils and empty colour tubes?

A broader recycling system tackles the bigger problem.

How can hairdressers start recycling hair?

It can be surprisingly simple.

At Green Salon Collective, salons, barbers and freelance hairdressers can separate hair and other recyclable salon materials as part of their normal working day.

Rather than throwing hair into general waste, it goes into your dedicated recycling stream.

Once your Returns Box is full, you can send it back for recycling.

You can use your own bins too, so you don't necessarily need a complicated new bin system taking over the salon.

The biggest change is often simply changing the habit of where the hair goes after it has been swept up.

Cut. Sweep. Separate. Recycle.

Can salons make recycling financially sustainable?

Sustainability does not have to mean simply adding another business expense.

Many Green Salon Collective salons introduce a small Green Fee to help cover the cost of their recycling and sustainability initiatives.

For example, a salon might add £1 to each client's bill.

That small contribution can help fund responsible salon waste management while giving clients a simple way to participate in the salon's environmental efforts.

For many salons, the amount collected through Green Fees can exceed the cost of their recycling service, turning better waste management into something that makes financial and environmental sense.

Why salon waste management matters

Hair is a perfect example of why we need to rethink the word "waste".

On the salon floor, it looks like something that needs to be swept up and thrown away.

But look at the material differently and suddenly it has possibilities.

It can be composted.

It can contribute to soil improvement.

It can be used in research.

It can become part of new materials.

It can even be turned into products designed to help absorb oil.

The same thinking applies across the salon.

Foil is not necessarily rubbish. Aluminium can be recycled again and again.

An empty colour tube is not necessarily rubbish either. It contains valuable material that can potentially be recovered.

Better salon waste management is about keeping these resources in use wherever possible.

Frequently asked questions about composting and recycling hair

Is human hair biodegradable?

Yes. Human hair is a natural material and is biodegradable, although its keratin structure means it can take time to break down.

Is hair compostable?

Yes. Hair can be composted under suitable conditions and can contribute nutrients such as nitrogen as it breaks down.

Can I put hair clippings in my compost bin?

Small quantities of untreated hair may be suitable for certain composting systems, but large amounts of salon hair can clump together and decompose slowly. Professional salons should also consider contamination and how the hair has been treated.

Can hair be recycled?

Yes. Recycling hair can give it a range of potential uses, including composting, soil improvement, oil adsorbing products, research and new biomaterials.

What is the best way to dispose of hair from a salon?

Rather than putting hair into general waste, salons can separate it and use a specialist salon hair recycling service. This helps keep the material out of the general waste stream and gives it the opportunity to be put to another use.

Can hairdressers recycle foils and colour tubes too?

Yes. A specialist salon recycling service can help hairdressers separate and recycle several of the waste streams created during everyday salon services, including hair and metals.

Turn today's haircut into tomorrow's resource

So, is hair compostable?

Yes.

But composting hair is only part of the story.

The bigger opportunity is recognising that the hair swept from your salon floor is a material with potential value.

At Green Salon Collective, we help salons, barbers and freelance hairdressers rethink what happens to their waste by separating and recycling materials that would otherwise enter the general waste stream.

Because the most sustainable haircut is not just about what happens in the chair.

It is also about what happens to everything left behind.