After 12 months of collecting aluminium hair foils from hairdressers across Port Stephens and the wider Hunter region, Salamander Bay Recycling had its first load this week ready for transportation to Liberty OneSteel Recycling at Hexham.

Salamander Bay Recycling general manager Gerard McClafferty said he was both excited and surprised by the project's success.

"We are delighted to have diverted in excess of 20 cubic metres of material away from landfill. That’s a lot of hairdos and chitchat," Mr McClafferty said.

"But we couldn’t have done it without the magnificent involvement of so many Port salons, along with the support of hairdressers in places like Newcastle, Umina and Singleton.

"Our special thanks go to Port Stephens Packaging & Workwear for providing the logistical support to transport the used hair foils from those out-of-town salons back to Salamander Bay Recycling."

Anyone who has ever collected aluminium cans will vouch that the not-for-profit centre isn’t about to get rich on this collection. Mr McClafferty said the financial return was very little but nonetheless important. 

“It’s aluminium that won’t go into landfill but back into the system to be reused,” he said. “There’s not a lot of money in that volume but it’s about awareness and getting people to think about what they can recycle.”

According to Planet Ark, Australia enjoys better rates of recycling aluminium than most in the world. “Aluminium does not 'degrade' during the recycling process, which means it can be recycled over and over again.”

Hairdressers interested in joining the movement are invited to send an email to enquiries@portpack.com.au or call 4919 0004 to organise the free pickups of their used hair foils.

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