Facts About Metal Clothes Hangers

What is flat, triangular, metal and hooks at the top? It is the wire clothes hanger used most frequently by dry cleaners around the world. The Organic Consumers Association estimates that 3.5 billion wire hangers are used each year by this industry alone. This amounts to 195 million pounds of steel used for production. According to the Steel Recycling Institute, in North America more steel is recycled than glass, aluminum, paper and plastic combined. Yet, when it comes to recycling metal hangers, this proves difficult due to the plastic coating used to protect clothing from rusting metal.

If you have a wardrobe that requires dry cleaning and the use of these hangers, take note that it takes over 100 years for wire hangers to break down in landfills, according to Bob Kantor, CEO of Hanger Network. If you can’t reuse hangers, the best alternative is to return them to a dry cleaner nearest you. They, and eventually you the consumer, will appreciate it since the price of wire hanger imports from China more than doubled in April 2008.