More and more hairdressers and associations are launching hair collections to recycle them for various and varied purposes. Your split ends, ends, and other frizz, when they don’t end up in a trash can, turn out to be natural resources for agriculture, soil remediation, and medical research, but also to support patients undergoing chemotherapy.

In the summer of 2020, a Japanese bulk carrier, stranded in Mauritius’s southeast, spilled tons of fuel oil into the Indian Ocean. Mauritian volunteers are trying to limit a veritable environmental disaster by making floating hemp booms with their hands, but not only… Several organizations, including a French start-up, are appealing for hair donations to help the inhabitants of Mauritius. ‘Mauritius Island. Surprisingly, and yet, we learn that hair recycled in the form of rollers is highly effective in absorbing hydrocarbons.
Hair, an ally for the environment
Callum, a French hair recycling industry, was one of the actors who helped relay these calls for hair donations. Very active in France, the start-up, in collaboration with hairdressers, collects and recycles hair to transform it from waste into essential resources. Once recycled, the hair can be used for agriculture, to “preserve the soil and limit water consumption” as an “alternative to plastic products,” for the depollution of soil and water – we have it seen for the oil spill in Mauritius – but also in medical research to “improve skincare.”
Three good reasons in short of donating your hair, which, once cut, will be of no use to you anyway. Callum offers on its site a list of partner hairdressers where the hair will be recycled in due form. The Dessange International group also announced the launch of a new hair collection and recycling offer in partnership with Callum on Tuesday. The Dessange and Camille Albane salons will now offer their customers the option of keeping their hair for recycling.
A solidarity act
Alopecia, the term used to designate hair loss, is one of the side effects of chemotherapy cancer treatments. While some patients choose not to use any accessories to conceal this side effect, others resort to scarves, bangs, turbans, and wigs to feel more comfortable in their skin. It is precisely to make these wigs that associations collect hair. The goal is to make them accessible – wigs are expensive – to as many people as possible.