BRUSSELS, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Coiffeurs across Belgium are sweeping up and bagging hair clipped from their customers, and then handing it over to an NGO that recycles it to protect the environment. The Hair Recycle project feeds locks and tresses into a machine that turns them into matted squares that can be used to absorb oil and other hydrocarbons polluting the environment, or made into bio-composite bags. [1/5] Patrick Janssen, co-founder of the organisation Dung Dung, shows a tile made from recycled human hair that is used to absorb polluting chemical substances in water, in Waremme, Belgium December 8, 2022. Isabelle Voulkidis, manager of the Helyode salon in Brussels, is one of dozens of hairdresser across the country that pay a small fee to the project to collect their hair cuttings. Additional reporting by Clement Rossignol; Writing by John Chalmers; editing by Barbara LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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