Back to school – a new term, a new school year and importantly, it’s also ZERO WASTE WEEK. Yep! The 1st – 5th September is Zero Waste Week and we’ve got some learnings through from our friends at Green Salon Collective, to help. Whether a busy salon or a home studio… you can get involved. Here’s how:
Try these waste-less tips
• Go Paperless: Try sending digital email receipts, and use an online subscription for magazines! Where unavoidable, repurpose or recycle supplier packaging. Many salons creatively reuse colour tube boxes to give clients hair to use in their houseplants at home, or recycle weekly with a paper and plastic service.
• Recycle Hair, Foil and Colour Tubes: These items generate significant waste yet can rarely be recycled locally. Instead, they’re sent to landfill or incineration. The good news is, they can be recycled with Green Salon Collective across the UK and Ireland! In the past five years, over 200,00kilograms of salon specific waste has been saved from landfill by GSC
• Prevent Wasted Colour: An alarming 25% of salon chemicals end up in landfill or waterways, amounting to over 600 tonnes of waste annually across the industry!Never mind the financial impact on your business. Salons can audit their colour usage, implement colour-saving software like SalonScale or Vish, and responsibly dispose of colour-contaminated waste via waste-to-energy services to make sure nothing ends up in landfill
Consider your recycling of foil and tubes
• Offer Product Refills: Encouraging clients to refill their products can reduce the overall amount of single use plastic in the loop, create client and brand loyalty and reduce the price for you and your clients
Do what you can to recycle: even hair!
• Choose Reusables: Where possible, swap disposable cups, bottles and gloves for reusable alternatives and do a waste audit to see what your top culprits are, and if they can be reduced or reused.
Get full marks
You want to be top of the class, but not sure what you’re wasting, or what needs to change? Here’s help…
● Waste Audit: Understand your waste streams and identify areas of highest environmental and financial impact.
● Recycle Everything Feasible: Work with Green Salon Collective to ensure hair, foils, colour tubes, PPE, plastics, paper, and even chemical waste, are responsibly disposed of.
● Educate and Inspire: Engage staff and clients through awareness, training, and visible recycling systems to embed sustainability into daily routines.
● Monitor and Evolve: Track progress and highlight successes, reinforcing commitment and inspiring others.
Green Salon Collective can help:
The 1st – 5th September is Zero Waste Week
New recycling legislation came into force in England from 31 March 2025, meaning salons with ten or more full-time equivalent staff are legally required to separate and recycle specified waste streams. By March 2027, all businesses will need to be compliant. Get in touch with Green Salon Collective for advice, and start your sustainability journey
At Colour World UK we believe in colourists being equally important as hairdressers to the success of a salon business! Clients deserve excellent colour services, embracing the importance of a great colour consultation through to end result. We salute manufacturers and brands offering a great product innovation which enables colour technicians to explore their creativity and offer a bespoke colour to every client. We offer colour conversation and inspiration for you to browse, and respect colour-focused education and events from what’s on and where to our own Colour World UK event which support our industry and promise to do our best to bring you news and information to help you succeed.
IHAA will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates and marketing on events including Respect and Colour World UK.
