Integrating waste human hair into a closed-loop recycling system and creating sustainable textile applications.

Long description

We are living on this planet long enough, taking its resources, but what are we giving back in exchange? Human Material Loop researches the concept of humans as a sustainable material of the future and proposes an alternative material to integrate into our daily products. Hair has been playing an important role in our lives, from defining our identity it also shows the religion we associate with or the political ideology we believe in. The most common interest in hair is focused on hair growth, hair types, and hair care, but hair is also an important biomaterial primarily composed of protein, notably keratin. With the increase of global energy crisis and ecology risk, the unique advantages of biological fibers such as human hair are not yet implemented in our product cycles. Human hair and its abundance quantity, non-toxic, non-irritation of the skin, high tensile strength, lightweight, thermal insulator, flexibility, and oil-absorbing capability as a material show a great potential integrating it into our production system. In Europe 72 million kg of human hair, waste ends up in landfills or in the drainage system causing several problems. Human Material Loop integrates human hair into our textile production, lowers the demand for cotton and exchanges synthetic fibers for natural ones, and creates impact by integrating a local, biodegradable fiber into our textile industry.

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