Hundreds of hair salons in Quebec who wish to reduce their environmental footprint have taken the initiative of sending all or part of their waste to a company in Toronto. However, Recyc-Québec invites these salons to check whether their municipality can process their waste before sending it to another province.
Alicia Elbaz, owner of a hair salon in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce district of Montreal, has made it her mission to reduce the carbon footprint of her business.
To reduce waste at source and offer an alternative to single-use bottles, it sells shampoo in bulk and refills its customers’ containers.
“We also recycle the hair, rather than sending it to a landfill,” says the owner.
Each week, she sends bags of hair, but also spray cans, aluminum foil, dye tubes, gloves, plastic pieces and other trash to the organization Green Circle Salons in Toronto, via a postal delivery company.
According to Green Circle, 554 hair salons in Quebec participate in its program which aims to reduce the environmental impact of the beauty care industry.
These companies must pay a subscription, after which Green Circle sends them boxes by mail, which they can fill with waste, before returning these same boxes, by truck, to Toronto.
Composting and biocomposites
The Canadian Press tried to get an interview with Shane Price, the founder of Green Circle, to understand the path traveled by the waste of the hair salons that do business with his company. A publicist explained that Shane Price, who has a busy schedule, was not available. However, the company agreed to answer a few questions by email.
Green Circle argues that hair collected from hair salons “can be composted” by a “variety of composters in North America.”
Hair “can also be transformed into biocomposites”, which make it possible to create “new products such as recycling bins” or even “combs”, used by hairdressing salons.
Green Circle also says it works with research partners to develop new technologies like “rainwater filters and insulation” made from human hair.
The Toronto-based company also claims to transform leftover dyes into clean energy.
“In Alberta and Ontario, dyes are turned “into energy through our waste diversion partner who has national coverage.”
Green Circle declined to release the names of its partners “for reasons of commercial confidentiality.”
Consequently, it is difficult to know the path traveled by the waste collected by the company and thus assess the environmental impact of their initiative.
Moreover, Recyc-Québec, which manages recovery, recycling and composting, indicated that it did not have “enough information on the actions and practices of the Toronto company Green Circle to be able to give an opinion on the environmental value of their services”.
Favor short circuits
In terms of waste management, favoring short circuits makes it possible to reduce greenhouse gases thanks in particular to the reduction of distances travelled.
Thus, transporting waste between provinces in order to recover it is not a practice recommended by Recyc-Québec.
Boxes of waste from hair salons that do business with Green Circle can travel several hundred kilometers by truck when transported to Toronto, and Green Circle recognizes that this practice is not ideal.
The company says, however, that it encourages members of its program to find local solutions and reduce their waste at the source.
“If Green Circle can get salon owners to work with a more local waste management program, that’s a huge win and a great first step towards a more sustainable future,” but “doing nothing at all would be much worse.” for the planet,” the company said in an email exchange.
Asked whether the hair salons in Quebec that are part of its program send it waste aluminum and plastic, materials that can be recycled in Quebec, Green Circle replied that “79% of our member salons in Quebec send us metals, while about 20% send us plastics”.
The Toronto-based company clarified that “where possible, we encourage salons to recycle with their respective municipal recycling departments for the recycling of paper, plastic and glass. These salons can then focus on sending their hard-to-recycle materials.”
As far as products such as dyes, aerosols and bleaching agents are concerned, Green Circle seems to meet a need, because not all municipalities are able to process these residual materials, as a spokesperson pointed out. of Recyc-Quebec.
“These products are considered hazardous household products and should not be added directly to recycling if they are not empty,” explained communications advisor Véronique Boulanger, who encourages salons to check with their municipality if a local ecocentre can accept this type of material.
Regarding the hair, she explained “that they are generally not accepted in the collections of organic matter offered by the municipalities”.
However, she clarified that “hair can be composted in a home composter [préférablement non traités] “.
Hairdressing salons wishing to reduce their environmental footprint and who have questions regarding waste sorting are invited to contact Recyc-Québec to obtain the assistance of an environmental advisor.
Certified by Carbon Trust
Green Circle has obtained certifications from B Corporation and Carbon Trust.
“This means that the company must meet certain criteria related to sustainability, fair labor practices and community involvement. It is also required to submit to regular assessments to ensure that it continues to meet these standards,” Green Circle argued in an email exchange.
The hair salon industry in the United States and Canada produces a volume of 190 tons of waste per day, metal scrap, dyes and hair make up the bulk of this waste according to a report produced by Green Circle Salons .