BDO in beauty and hair salons

The biggest mistake beauty and hair salon owners make is to assume that because the business is small, the subject of BDO does not apply to them. This is not always true. Current BDO material indicates that small hairdressing and beauty businesses may be exempt from registration as a generator of municipal waste, but only if the waste is of a similar nature to municipal waste and no hazardous or medical waste occurs. The problem starts when a salon performs aesthetic medicine treatments or generates waste that cannot be treated as ordinary rubbish. This is where many businesses fall into the trap of thinking that „a beauty salon does not need to have a BDO”, even though in practice their range of services may already trigger registration and record-keeping obligations. 

When does a beauty or hair salon have to have a BDO?

The mere fact of operating a hairdressing or beauty salon does not automatically imply an obligation to register. If the activity generates only municipal waste, the salon can benefit from the exemption. However, the situation changes when hazardous waste or medical waste appears, which can no longer be treated as ordinary household waste. BDO gives a straightforward example of the beauty industry and points out that the exemption does not cover entities generating medical waste as a result of aesthetic medicine procedures, such as syringes or scalpels. In addition, the obligation to enter may arise when a salon generates waste that requires record-keeping, because entry in BDO is linked precisely to the record-keeping obligation and not to the size of the company. 

What mistakes do salon owners make most often?

The most common mistake is to misclassify waste and consider that everything can be thrown into municipal waste. This is especially true for salons that combine classic beauty services with more invasive treatments, or use products and materials that can generate hazardous waste. A second common problem is the lack of verification that packaging waste, used equipment, toners or hazardous substance packaging does not trigger additional obligations. BDO points out that some hazardous waste can benefit from specific quantity exemptions, but this does not automatically mean that every salon is outside the system and does not have to check anything. The third mistake is the belief that if a business has been operating for a long time without problems, there is no need to revisit the issue with a change in service offerings or equipment. 

What is worth checking before an inspection occurs?

The salon owner should first of all answer three questions: what exact waste is generated in the business, whether it is of a purely municipal nature and whether the scope of services does not include treatments that generate medical or hazardous waste. If the answer to any of these questions raises doubts, it is worth examining the obligation to register and record in BDO, rather than relying on the popular opinion that „a hairdresser does not have to”. In practice, the biggest risk comes not from the regulation itself, but from the lack of up-to-date verification after an extension of the offer, a change of premises or the introduction of new treatments. Therefore, this topic works well sales-wise: it shows that it is safer to check the status of a salon beforehand than to have to explain later on the misqualification of waste or lack of registration.

If you run a beauty or hairdressing salon and want to check whether your business is actually outside BDO or has already entered into waste obligations, it is worth doing before there is an inspection or a waste collection problem. For details, see Contact website there, you can describe the range of services and match the support to the salon's real responsibilities.