TerraCycle launches new solution for hard-to-recycle salon waste

Recycling company TerraCycle has launched a nationwide solution to provide beauty and hair salons with an environmentally-friendly, responsible waste solution.

The new solution, called SalonCycle, allows salons to recycle hard-to-recycle waste, diverting it from landfill or incineration.

Whether it's metal colour tubes and hair foils, empty plastic product containers, disposable gloves, masks, used coffee cups or human hair, the service allows salons to easily separate materials.

Waste needs to be split into just two categories:

• SalonCycle Composting Box - a box for human hair.
• SalonCycle Recycling Box - a box for mixed waste in which both metal and plastic items are collected together.

To implement the solution, businesses can order the two SalonCycle boxes online to be delivered to their salon.

Once full, the box(es) can be sent back to TerraCycle using the pre-affixed UPS shipping label. When TerraCycle receives a box, the hair clippings will be industrially composted and the mixed waste will be sorted and recycled to create new products.

The launch of SalonCycle comes as the hair and beauty care industries produce a huge amount of waste per year.

In fact, out of 95% of beauty packaging thrown away, only 14% makes it to the recycling plant and only 9% of this is recycled, whilst the rest ends up landfilled or burned.

Julien Tremblin, General Manager at TerraCycle Europe, said: "We are delighted to be launching SalonCycle in the UK as the amount of waste produced by the beauty industry is substantial.

"When developing SalonCycle we listened to salons and their biggest request was for a simple and easy to use solution that isn’t confusing for staff. Having to separate waste into lots of different sub categories can be confusing and ultimately can act as a barrier to adoption in the salon.

"As a result, SalonCycle only offers two boxes, one for human hair and the other for everything else that is either plastic or metal. The solution couldn’t be easier to implement in a salon or for staff to effectively recycle all the hard-to-recycle waste they are generating as part of their day-to-day work."