Read Why Mark Shorrock from Sweet Squared Backs the Recycle My Salon Scheme

My name is Mark Shorrock and I'm the CSO at Sweet Squared Limited in Leeds. We are a multi-channel distribution company that concentrates predominantly on the professional, operating across the whole of the UK and Ireland. I think we predominantly lean towards vendors or partners but we have an understanding and appreciation of the environment and sustainability. We are a very progressive dynamic company, so we're always looking at where we can factor that into what we do on a daily basis.

I think this is something that's just happened organically, we've always said we will do the right thing. Our company strapline is that "we serve professionals with love and respect" and part of loving and respecting the industry is making sure that it's future proof for the next generation, and sustainability is a really big part of that. 

Now I'm sure there is some greenwashing out there, particularly with all the brands of the legacy businesses but actually most new salon brands and vendors are just baking it into what they do. I think that some people aren't shouting about it as much as they could because they've grown up in a generation where it's already important. Whereas I was really excited to get involved with the HBSA. I've always been on the fringes of it but being involved with the Recycle My Salon scheme has been really good and I love being part of finding a solution for something as important as aluminium. I think there's still a lot of education that needs to be done around what does and doesn't actually get recycled from what you throw in a recycle bin and how you can stop interrupting the recycling cycle, for example by always taking the lids off stuff and always cleaning stuff out at home. I'm forever telling my son "make sure you take the top off before you put it in the recycling". Hopefully that generation will grow up doing that and it'll be normal. 

Well, our biggest hair brand is called Kevin Murphy which has always had the environment, sustainability and philanthropy baked into its DNA so we're anticipating a very receptive customer base for it. We haven't done anything with it yet because we want to make sure that we've got all of the assets together and a strong launch plan so we’ll get a really good uptake and commitment.

Apart from the environmental benefits that we're going to derive from this particular scheme, I think one of the big benefits is that we're showing leadership to people that are new into the industry or younger in the industry. This is probably just one of many schemes that will come about over the next few years and by showing leadership and demonstrating what can be done, I think it will have a knock-on effect on younger people in the industry.

I think everyone has to take responsibility for it, waste doesn't have to be a profit centre for businesses like the ones on the hedge of the HBSA. I think because everyone has an understanding and appreciation that it's the right thing to do, everyone's up for doing it. It's not a competitive landscape, it's just about doing the right thing and making it accessible for all customer groups. I think it's more than the tip of the iceberg because aluminium is a really big piece of the industry, it's more like the North Pole. If we can get this right then we could maybe move on to some of the outlying icebergs around the North Pole. I'm sure, there'll be a South Pole coming down the road at some point. If I'm completely honest, I wasn't aware myself that all of this aluminium was going into landfill. So I'm part of the ignorance, or I was until I became part of the committee, and I'm sure there are lots of other people who don't realise what impact that is having. 

When people are busy they don't want something that's so disruptive to their daily life that it feels like a chore. So the simplicity around how we offer this service is key and really important.

I think the rise of social media has given lots of people the ability to work for themselves, whether that means they co-work in a salon, do some mobile sessions, there are lots of associated things that hairstylists can do. I find it really difficult to predict what will come down the pipeline but I do think that flexible co-working is here to stay. I also think that we need to get more people into hairdressing and seeing hairdressing as a career. I'm not sure that we're doing enough to keep that flow of new people coming through. If you compare hairstylists with other trades I think it's actually really undervalued, in terms of what they charge and what consumers believe they should pay. I think it's one of those things where we could always do more. I think with trades like hairdressing or barbering there are lots of life skills, you've got to be passionate about it, you've got to love it and you've got to be a real team player to work in a busy salon. There are lots of really accomplished people in the industry that started in the salon, sweeping the floor and washing hair. Some of the life skills that you learn working in hair and beauty are really important.

The two things that are important is the availability and accessibility of it. Through the network of people in HBSA pretty much any salon will be able to buy it from their supplier. So, whether you're dealing with one of the large manufacturers, a chain of wholesalers or with a brand distribution business like ours, you'll be able to get hold of the assets that you need to recycle your aluminium. I think the collaboration that we've had with the HBSA to make that happen gives it accessibility. So it's good because there won't be an excuse of someone saying "Oh well I can't get that in my area" as it's genuinely accessible at any postcode.