Type-I heterojunction films of α-Fe2O3/ZnO are reported herein as a non-titania based photocatalyst that shows remarkable enhancement in the photocatalytic properties towards stearic acid degradation under UVA light exposure (λ = 365 nm), with a quantum efficiency of ξ = 4.42 ± 1.54 × 10-4 molecules degraded/photon, which was about 16 times greater than that of α-Fe2O3, and 2.5 times greater than that of ZnO. As the degradation of stearic acid requires 104 electron transfers for each molecule, this represents an overall quantum efficiency of 4.60% for the α-Fe2O3/ZnO heterojunction. Time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) revealed the charge carrier behavior responsible for this increase in activity. Photogenerated electrons, formed in the ZnO layer, were transferred into the α-Fe2O3 layer on the pre-µs timescale, which reduced electron-hole recombination. This increased the lifetime of photogenerated holes formed in ZnO that oxidise stearic acid. The heterojunction α-Fe2O3/ZnO films grown herein show potential environmental applications as coatings for self-cleaning windows and surfaces.