First Mile launches new coat hanger recycling service to prevent millions of hangers going to waste each year

Leading recycling company First Mile has launched its new coat hanger recycling service, aimed at tackling the millions of hangers that end of in UK landfill sites every year.

First Mile estimates that millions of coat hangers end up in general waste when they could be recycled, with research suggesting that Britain has 540 million surplus hangers, weighing 17,000 tonnes, and that as many as 100 million a year are thrown away.

This is despite the fact plastic and metal from hangers can be recovered and recycled for use in new products, saving landfill space and the further depletion of the world’s natural resources.

The new First Mile service gives fashion and retail businesses an easy and effective way to recycle their hangers, with Inditex’s UK operations already signed up.

Clothing items are often imported with the hangers to allow retailers to quickly and effectively display their goods.

However, they are designed to be a single use item, and while plastic hangers with metal hooks are not necessarily complicated products, they require specialist recycling to split and shred the materials, which is currently not a service offered by the waste industry.

These hangers will be processed by First Mile’s recycling partner Endurmeta, where they will be shredded and granulated and then sent for reuse and repurposing within the manufacturing industry.

Bruce Batley, Founder and CEO of First Mile, said: “The impact of fashion on the environment has been a hot topic in recent months, and we’re committed to doing what we can to make it easier for businesses to be more sustainable.”

“It’s great the many retailers want to recycle coat hangers, with many also operating schemes where customers can bring them to be recycled. By working with us, these companies can ensure that these hangers and recycled effectively, fulfilling their good intentions and those of their customers.”

Ian Glassbrook, Managing Director of Endurmeta, said: “Endurmeta is leading the revalue revolution within the UK, taking a new approach to recycling. By viewing all waste as useful materials to be reformed and revalued, rather than rubbish, we are striving to create a better, cleaner UK.”

“Our ultimate goal is to stop waste reaching landfills and oceans, and to do this we must continue to find solutions to hard to process materials, such as coat hangers.”