An In-Depth Look at Clothes Hanger Recycling
Clothes hangers can be made of metal, plastic or wood, which are all recyclable materials. However, questions about collection and how to dismantle them results in a large majority ending up in landfills.
A hanger made from 100% recycled paper - Dittohangers.com
A FOXNews story went behind the scenes in the hanger industry and discovered some surprising numbers. Most notably, 85 percent of plastic hangers are not reused or recycled, and until recently, that number was higher for metal hangers at 90 percent.
Plastic hangers are a mix of different plastic resins, which make them difficult to recycle with plastic bottles or bags. Metal hangers can be recycled as scrap metal, but many municipal programs don’t include them in the list of items accepted at the curb.
There are now recycled-content hangers on the market, made from recycled plastic and paperboard. One brand even provides the hangers free of charge to drycleaners because they come with advertising.
Recycling is actually a final option for hangers, as many dry-cleaners and second-hand stores will accept them for reuse. This is true regardless of the hanger material.
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The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
Rich
posted on March 9th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Do you know of any company that makes a portable carrier so consumers could take their hangers either to their cleaners or a recycling location
Pat Griffiths
posted on March 14th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
I have many wooden hangers and do not use anymore. Where can I recycle them?
otis brown
posted on December 23rd, 2009 at 12:29 pm
I would like to know if there is any merit to starting a clothes hanger recycling business.
Erica
posted on January 17th, 2010 at 8:56 am
I just tried to take a big bag full of plastic hangers (the kind that come from the stores — the flimsy plastic ones) to my local Goodwill store and they do not accept any hangers. Boo! Now I’m stuck with them and I refuse to throw them in a landfill. I guess the next step is to figure out what kind of plastic they are and find a recycling center willing to take them. My local center is not very cooperative since I have to take my stuff to them and then pay them to take it. There’s no incentive to recycle where I live. Any alternative ideas are welcome!
Jeanette
posted on February 4th, 2010 at 8:15 am
I was advised to try freecycle.org, we do not have a local group by me so I will gather them all and post them on craigslist. I figure if we have several bags and offer free delivery within a certain distance, we should get a taker. Worth a shot! I will then call some of the local thrifts and consignment shops to see if they want them if no one wants them on craigs.
Stores should have bins for these for consumers to bring them back or leave them there and the clothing manufacturers should do their part in recycling and reusing by taking them back from the retailers.
I like the idea of the thick, recycled and recyclable cardboard hangers. I have yet to see these in the stores by me.
Laura
posted on May 29th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I also think that department stores should have bins and encourage the recycling of clothes hangers. My local goodwill would not take mine and I have a multitude of plastic hangers with the metal hanger.
I cannot in good conscience throw these away to be dumped in a landfill. From now on I will refuse hangers from stores. If anyone does come up with a specific clothes hanger recycling business, I’m sure that it would get quite a lot of business.
margie
posted on October 17th, 2010 at 4:11 am
Where are all the environmentalists on this big issue?
Dale
posted on October 20th, 2010 at 10:41 am
Plastic hangers-if you don’t need them don’t buy them!
Other than that take them to resale shops.Salvation Army stores take them,try church thrift shops,if push comes to shove wooden ones can be burned in the fireplace in the winter,Put a box of plastic ones outside a dorm when collage starts and see how long they last.Also metal ones can be taken to scrap yards for $$$, a couple of years ago I made $20 by taking a whole pickup truck load to the scrapyard,they laughed at me when I showed up but they paid me for them.