Long Eaton-based hair salon business marks five-year green partnership for National Recycle Week 2026

Credit: ToastPR

A hairdressing salon business with its headquarters in Long Eaton, has revealed that, during its five-year partnership with the Green Salon Collective (GSC), its salons have diverted over eight tonnes of waste from going to landfill – the equivalent of FOUR adult male giraffes!*

Since the partnership with the recycling organisation began, KH Hair has collected:

• 5.2 tonnes of foils and colour tubes (about twelve times as heavy as an average riding horse*)
• 2.87 tonnes of hair (as heavy as five average adult grizzly bears*)

The figures are revealed to coincide with National Recycle Week (14th-20th September), an annual event organised by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) which aims to encourage businesses and individuals across the nation to recycle more of the right things, more often.

The GSC works with hair salons across the UK and Ireland to recycle and repurpose items that would usually end up in landfill. Things like hair, foils, colour tubes, paper, plastics, and even leftover chemicals. Through their various programs, these materials are transformed into new products, clean energy, or safely disposed of in an environmentally responsible way.

Managing director, Darren Messias, said that there has always been a strong sense of responsibility in how the company disposes of the waste its salons produce: “Recycling and sustainability continue to be vitally important for the future of our planet and we really want to try to play our part,” he explained. “We are delighted to be celebrating our five-year partnership with the GSC as their innovative recycling solutions are really helping us to achieve our sustainability goals.”

Since its launch in July 2020, the GSC has diverted over 250 tonnes of hair, foil, colour tubes, towels and other salon waste from being sent to landfill. It also recycles hair in an impressive ten different ways – from oil spill clean ups to art and design projects, and even composting – showcasing a commitment to preserving our planet and making a positive impact on our communities.

Paul Seaward, co-founder of the Green Salon Collective, said that seeing the recycling of over eight tonnes of salon waste is a fantastic achievement and a great example of what can happen when a salon group truly commits to sustainability. “From our perspective, it’s not just about the impressive number, it’s about the culture of change behind it, with teams across the Group making better choices every single day.” he explained.

Speaking about the commitment of the locally-based business, he said that it “…shows the positive impact our industry can have when we work together to keep valuable resources out of landfill and give salon waste a new purpose.”

Darren added: “The byproduct of this relationship is that our teams and clients can see that we are very conscious of the need to preserve our environment and not be sending all our waste to landfill. By partnering with the GSC, we’re actively reducing our environmental footprint, supporting ethical recycling, and contributing to a cleaner, greener future for our industry.”

*=Weight comparison source: The Measure of Things