According to Green Circle Salon’s first Circle of Impact Report, the salon industry in the US and Canada generates 877 pounds (397kg) of waste per minute.
The report examines two themes the overarching impact of salon waste on the environment and the attitudes of salon professionals towards this waste stream.
According to Green Circle data, the largest contributors to waste are hair colour, hair clippings and metal.
Notable statistics from the report included that the industry throws away over 42,000 pounds of excess hair colour, 63,000 pounds of hair and 110,000 pounds of metal every day.
There hasn’t been much education about the impact, and in the past, there has been a dearth of solutions.
Commenting on the report, Shane Price, CEO of Green Circle Salons, said: “When most people sit down in a stylist’s chair, they’re prepping for a relaxing experience that will leave them looking and feeling good.
“But neither they – nor, often, the salon workers – are thinking about the tremendous impact they have on the environment at that moment. But it’s not their fault. There hasn’t been much education about the impact, and in the past, there has been a dearth of solutions. Fortunately, this is a problem that can be fixed, which is our mission here at Green Circle.”
According to the report, 70% of salon professionals are unaware of the clean recycling streams for hair colour and the impact of hair waste on greenhouse gas emissions. The report also revealed that 64% of the general salon sample rated sustainability as “extremely important”.