A Cut Above The Rest Weird and Wonderful Careers to Enhance Your Cultural Knowledge Written by Sophie Barclay Interviewed by Tanya Finnie Long before ‘overconsumption’ and ‘sustainability were buzzwords Paul Frasca and Ewellna Soroko , were questioning whether it was possible to combat the exorbitant waste created by salons. After five years of research, they had the answer and in 2015, Sustainable Salons (SS) was born. Paul kindly conducted an interview with Cultural Times and answered some of our questions about SS and its impact on the sustainability movement.
1. Metals Along with hair, metal makes up 50% of salon wastage. Aluminium is one of the worst materials on the planet to produce yet it is the most sustainable to keep—it is infinitely recyclable. All our salons use recycled foils.
In culture we often refer to perception. Paul nailed this with his quote describing the love-hate relationship we have with hair.
Hair. On our head we love it, on our food we hate it. What is the story behind Sustainable Salons?
Around eight years ago, Ewelina and I began conducting research about salon waste and materials. We travelled around Australia, collecting material from 160 salons and brought it back to my father’s garage to get a better understanding of the ways it could be used. We quickly realised that around 95% of salon waste could be repurposed and diverted to solving a problem. Today, Sustainable Salons is the largest comprehensive resource recovery program dedicated to recycling, reusing and repurposing salon waste. The program services more than 800 salons in the hairdressing, beauty, barbering and pet-grooming sectors. We believe our program has been so successful because we have focused on a specific niche of the market and it allowed us to remain focused on solving the root problems of the industry.
What materials do you recycle and how are they repurposed? There are several aspects to the resource recovery system—we collect paper, plastics, hair, chemicals, metals, copper and more.
CULTURAL TIMES | OCTOBER 2019
Above: Worker holding collected metals. Photo supplied by Sustainable Salons.
2. Chemicals Chemical waste, particularly hydrogen peroxide, is incredibly toxic. It is ironic that the EPA could fine an individual $100,000 if they threw peroxide into the gutter but hairdressers can tip it down the drain and contaminate our oceans. SS was the first company to provide a chemical recycling service, with chemicals collected in small buckets and turned back into clean water for manufacturing and building.
3. Plastics We are really focused on trying to solve the plastic problem. We work with local recyclers and manufacturers to create products such as outdoor furniture, product packaging and in some areas, even heavy-duty plastic sheeting that goes underground to protect the internet. However, we are always looking for other exciting products. We are launching a glasses range in October made from recycled shampoo bottles. Our customers are looking for fun, quirky items and they love consumables made from their own waste. They sell out overnight. | 1 2 |
