A new life for plastic coat hangers

Published: 31 July 2023
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Woman holding a coat which is on a hanger.

Corex Recycling is transforming Victoria’s difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into new products.

Located in Dandenong South, Corex is installing new equipment to process plastics like coat hangers and car bumper bars.

Corex has invested in a new sorting line that will shred the coat hangers and bumper bars, making clever use of magnets, air and water to separate the different types of plastics, metal and paper.  

The recovered plastics will then be melted down and turned into small plastic granules.

These granules will replace virgin plastic in processes ranging from sheet extrusion, injection moulding, and even 3D printing, to produce a wide range of products for industry and consumers.  

Thanks to a $285,000 grant from the Victorian Circular Economy Modernisation Fund, Corex will be able to recycle the equivalent of 36 million coat hangers each year. This project, jointly funded by the Australian and Victorian governments, will create value out of resources that may otherwise end up in landfills and will reduce carbon emissions by up to 80%.

The Victorian Circular Economy Modernisation Fund supports projects that improve recycling by upgrading infrastructure, technology and processing capacity, and increasing the amount of recycled material being made into new products.

So far, more than $64 million has been awarded from this fund to 20 infrastructure projects across Victoria.

Learn more about Corex Recycling.