With the arrival of spring, or autumn, depending on the wardrobe that opens, the ritual of the change of season returns promptly. You empty drawers, rediscover forgotten clothes, make neat piles, or at least you try, and, invariably, you find yourself with a disproportionate quantity of coat hangers. Plastic, metal, wood, all together, all bulky, all with the same problem. Where do they throw themselves?
It is not a trivial question, on the contrary, it is one of those small daily dilemmas that tell a lot about how separate waste collection is still perceived as a labyrinth. To clarify, we asked Junker, the app that helps you dispose of waste correctly, and the answer, as often happens, is more complex than you might imagine.
Plastic, the simplest case, but not always obvious
Plastic hangers are probably the most widespread, often accumulated over the years between purchases and laundries. The good news is that, in most cases, they can be disposed of in the plastic collection. Even when they have the classic metal hook, it is not necessary to separate it, the object can be disposed of as it is.
However, this does not mean that all plastics are the same. Hangers, in fact, are among the “atypical” packaging and, depending on local regulations, there may be variations. It is always advisable to check the indications of your municipality, even if the general rule remains valid.
Metal
All-steel or metal hangers, thinner, often deformable, follow a different path. Here an important territorial variable comes into play, in some Municipalities they must be disposed of in the “plastic and metals” collection, in others in the “glass and metals” collection.
It is not a minor detail, because the recovery chains change from city to city. Metal, if correctly disposed of, is one of the most recyclable materials of all, but simply inserting it into the wrong container causes it to lose part of its value.
Wood, outside the domestic circuit
Wooden hangers, often more robust and durable, cannot be thrown away in the household collection. They do not go into organic waste or into furniture wood, or even into undifferentiated waste, if you want to avoid avoidable waste.
The correct destination is the municipal collection center, where they are managed as bulky waste or particular materials. It is a less convenient choice, of course, but necessary because treated, painted, glued or finished wood requires specific recovery processes.
More than waste, objects to be rethought
Before even wondering where to throw the hangers, it would be worth stopping for a moment and asking yourself whether it is really necessary to do so. Many can be reused, donated, returned to the dry cleaner or to stores that accept them. Some even find a second creative life, between domestic solutions and small DIY projects.
Ultimately, the point is not only to dispose of it correctly, but to reduce what becomes waste upstream. Hangers are a perfect example, simple, seemingly insignificant objects, which however accumulate without us realizing it. And precisely for this reason, when the time comes to get rid of them, they highlight all the contradictions of our relationship with things.
Separate waste collection is useful, it works, but it is not enough. If the way we consume and accumulate did not also change, we would continue to fill wardrobes, and then bins, with objects we no longer know what to do with.
