Human Hair Recycled in Belgium to Protect the Environment
13:44 JST, January 26, 2023
BRUSSELS (Reuters) — Coiffeurs across Belgium are sweeping up and bagging hair clipped from their customers, and then handing it over to an NGO that recycles it to protect the environment.
The Hair Recycle project feeds locks and tresses into a machine that turns them into matted squares that can be used to absorb oil and other hydrocarbons polluting the environment, or made into bio-composite bags.
Project cofounder Patrick Janssen, explained that a kilogram of hair can absorb 7-8 liters of oil and hydrocarbons, said the mats can be placed in drains to soak up pollution in water before it reaches a river.
“Our products are all the more ethical as they are manufactured locally … they are not imported from the other side of the planet,” he told Reuters. “They are made here to deal with local problems.”
The project said on its website that hair has powerful properties: one strand can support up to 10 million times its own weight, and as well as absorbing fat and hydrocarbons, it is water-soluble and highly elastic due to its keratin fibres.
Isabelle Voulkidis, manager of the Helyode salon in Brussels, is one of dozens of hairdressers across the country that pay a small fee to the project to collect their hair cuttings.
“What motivates me, personally, is that I find it a shame hair is nowadays just thrown in the bin, when I know that so much could be done with it,” she said, as she combed and clipped one of her customer’s hair.
"Science & Nature" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Solar Panels Around Southern Japan’s Mt. Aso Stoke Fears Over Landscape; Local Govt Scrambles to Preserve Nature
-
Govt, U.S. Sign Deal to Send 2 Japanese Astronauts to the Moon; Toyota to Contribute to Artemis Program with Lunar Cruiser
-
Studying Dinosaurs for Humanity’s Future
-
Jellyfish Invade Venezuelan Waters, Worrying Fishermen
-
U.K.’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fell 5.4% in 2023
JN ACCESS RANKING
- M6.0 Earthquake Hits Japan’s Tohoku Region; Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi Prefectures Observe 4 on Japanese Scale With No Risk of Tsunami
- China Mutes Memorialization of Reformer Hu Yaobang; Memories Could Spark Critique of Xi Administration
- Shinkansen Services Suspended After Man ‘Searches for Phone’ on Tracks; Disruption Affects About 14,000 Passengers
- U.S. 7th Fleet officer Arrested on Suspicion of Stealing Sushi, Sashimi, Chicken at Kanagawa Shopping Mall; Suspect Caught Mid-Meal
- UNRWA Director Describes Catastrophic Destruction in Gaza; Says Relief Trucks Robbed, ‘People’s Hearts Destroyed’