A new Belgian NGO Hair Recycle Project for removing pollution
A new Belgian NGO is using a technique to use human hair to absorb pollution from the environment around us. Human hair mat cleans oil spills in ocean and shore. It soaks up oil spills.
The initiative is called the Hair Recycle, and is led by Dung Dung, a Belgian non profit organisation which is focused on developing new waste recycling schemes that will lead to a sustainable economy.
As a part of the project, collection of hair are received from hairdressers and donors all around the country, which is then placed into a machine which create matted squares from the offcuts.
The patchwork hair can then be utilised as an absorber of oils, and other type of hydrocarbons that pollute the environment around us, and can also be made into bio bags.
The patchwork hair mats can also be used to absorb water pollution from drains and sewers before it reaches water bodies such as rivers. They are also ideal for dealing with any type of oil spill quickly and efficiently.
Hair patchwork usage for supporting local ecosystem and economy
Apparently a tile of human hair weighing one kilogram can absorb at least seven litres of oil and other hydrocarbons. Co-founder of Dung Dung Patrick Janssen explained a little bit about how the recycled hair supports the local ecosystem:
“Our products are all the more ethical as they are manufactured locally. They are not imported from the other side of the planet. They are made here to deal with local problems.”
What other ways can hair be used to support sustainability in our local communities? It supports a circular economy. For the project, clippings are collected from hairdressers across the country. The hair is then fed into a machine that turns it into matted squares.
Many options spring to mind, such as hair donations to certain charities to make wigs for less fortunate people, or children with cancer. This is fine for long lengths of hair, but shorter hair is better suited for other uses.
Various companies are already researching ways to use hair as a building materials, while other are trying to create garden fertiliser from it due to its high nitrogen content.
In London, bio manufacturing firm Bio hm is making wood based sheet material and 3D objects from hair waste, and at London Design Week, homeware was unveiled by Studio Sanne Visser which had recycled human hair used as a material.
Human hair’s characteristics
Hair whilst being very flexible also has incredible tensile strength, as one strand of hair can apparently support 10 million times its own weight. Hair is also highly elastic due to keratin fibres contained within.
Hair is hydrophobic and bio sorbent, which means it repels water and can collect heavy metals and other contaminants. Thanks to its porous cortex, the hair absorbs water and oil when it comes into contact with it. Hair is nontoxic, biodegradable, renewable and extremely absorbent.
Isabelle Voulkidis runs a hair salon in Brussels, and regularly provides the project with human hair, which is collected on a regular basis for a small fee. She recognises the value of hair, and how it can benefit us to recycle it wherever possible:
“What motivates me, personally, is that I find it a shame that hair is nowadays just thrown in the bin, when I know that so much could be done with it.”
Source: euronews
