Recycling made easy

If you think recycling is someone else’s responsibility, you may want to think again. Each year more than 100 million tonnes of waste are produced by homes and businesses in England and Wales, a figure that is set to grow by 3% a year, making it a huge problem and one that everybody needs to address.Householders already have the recycling bug. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (defra) reports that around 23% of household waste was being recycled during the 12 months to September 2005. It hopes that this will have risen to 25% for 2005/6 but it is still one of the lowest rates in Europe. It may be, then, that you are doing your bit at home, but this will be making less of an impact than if you haven’t been recycling in your salon. Your local authority probably takes care of your domestic recycling, but there may be different arrangements for commercial activities. Contact the recycling officer at your local authority to check the situation. He or she will inform you of any facilities there are and any projects or schemes the local authority is running. They will also be able to advise you of the cost and procedure involved in having your recycling processed by a waste-management company.

Setting Up A Recycling Initiative In The Salon

A recycling initiative is pointless unless every member of staff is dedicated to taking part. Hold a team meeting and ask your staff how recycling and minimising waste can work in the salon. It may mean working slightly differently, or that a little extra thought is given to everyday tasks, but if everyone is clear of the new systems it will soon become second nature.

What can we recycle?

Everything you recycle at home can be recycled in the salon. Again, it’s worth checking with your local authority or waste management company about what can and can’t be processed. The most common items for recycling, according to waste management organisation The Recycling Consortium, are:

• Paper - Most types of paper can be recycled, including newspapers, magazines, envelopes (including those with plastic windows) and junk mail. If you do get a lot of junk mail it may be worth putting a stop to it altogether - call the Mailing Preference Service who can take your name off mailing lists for free.
• Cardboard - Packaging from stock can be recycled. If your tubes of colour come in boxes, ensure you have a recycling bin in your colour dispensary to allow technicians and assistants to recycle as part of all technical services.
• Glass, Food Tins and Aluminium Cans - Glass jars, bottles, tins and cans should be rinsed and any caps and lids removed. Think how many of these your clients and staff use on a daily basis. Make it easy for staff to recycle - place bins in the areas where client refreshments are prepared as well as in the staff room.
• Aluminium Foil - With so much foil used for technical services, this is one area where salons can make a real difference. Check with your local authority, but it’s likely that you won’t even have to wash the foil before you recycle it.
• Plastic - Not all plastic can be recycled, but plastic milk bottles, fizzy drinks bottles, shampoo and conditioner bottles, and cleaning product containers can all be recycled.

There are countless other items that can be recycled, such as toner cartridges from printers, computers and mobile phones. However, these are more specific and there are special schemes and companies that take care of them. Again, your local authority will be able to give you details for your area.

What Else Can I Do?

Think about minimising waste in the first place. The good thing for businesses is that minimising waste usually means saving money. Ask your product company about refills for your backwash products. If they offer these they could be cheaper than purchasing the entire unit. And what about your clients? Encourage them to bring their own bag for their retail products and ask them to put their appointment straight into their diary rather than taking an appointment card or price list every time they book.

Useful Links

• www.mpsonline.org.uk/tel 020 7921 3310 - Prevent the delivery of unwanted junk mail
• www.recycle-more.co.uk -General advice on recycling for homes and businesses
• www.defra.gov.uk - Check out the government’s statistics for recycling
• www.recyclingconsortium.org.uk - An organisation promoting recycling throughout the UK.