Cycling to Southeast Asia?

The cover photo is intentionally provocative. Of course, used hangers won’t actually be transported all the way to Southeast Asia by cargo bike in the future. However, the photomontage is meant to illustrate the direction in which logistics in Europe is heading.

The basis for this is the European Climate Law (Regulation (EU) 2021/1119). It requires the European Union to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels and to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

These goals are ambitious, but economically feasible. They are transforming the entire logistics process—from pickup at clothing retailers to the return of hangers to clothing manufacturers worldwide.

The most important measures include, among others:

• Reducing final energy consumption,
• Gradual reduction of CO₂ emissions in road freight transport,
• Electrification of the transportation sector,
• Use of green hydrogen,
• as well as a significant expansion of the circular economy.

In this context, the reuse of products is becoming an increasingly central focus. This presents a major opportunity for reusable systems such as closed-loop coat hanger systems. The EU considers reuse, repair, recycling, and reduced use of primary raw materials to be essential tools for climate protection.

For companies, this will mean, among other things, that in the future:

• Develop products for reuse and recycling,
• use a higher percentage of recycled materials,
• Assume responsibility for take-back and manufacturer liability,
• introduce digital product passports,
• Provide transparent evidence of material origin and carbon footprint.

These requirements are becoming increasingly important, especially for closed-loop hanger systems.

What does this mean for the apparel retail industry?

The reuse of hangers has been an important issue in the European apparel retail sector for many years. Various large retail companies have established and continuously refined corresponding take-back and reusable systems.

The reason for this is not only environmental. A well-functioning coat hanger recycling system can also offer significant economic benefits. Every reused coat hanger replaces one that would otherwise be newly manufactured. This helps conserve raw materials, energy, production resources, and costs.

With the more ambitious climate goals for 2030, this issue takes on even greater importance.

The Netherlands is pursuing two key strategies in this regard:

• the expansion of zero-emission mobility,
• the transition to a fully circular economy by 2050, in which products and raw materials remain in circulation for as long as possible.

As a result, the clothing retail industry is increasingly faced with the question of how to integrate existing hanger recycling systems with new requirements for low-emission or zero-emission logistics.

What changes will take effect in the Netherlands starting in 2027?

Starting in 2025, Dutch cities will be able to introduce so-called Zero Emission Zones (ZEZ). These apply to commercial delivery and service vehicles.

Starting January 1, 2027, many older vans—particularly Euro 5-class vehicles and older—will no longer be permitted to operate in these city centers. This will affect, among others, package delivery services, textile logistics companies, and waste management firms.

At the same time, the Dutch government is promoting the transition to:

• Electric vans and electric trucks,
• City hubs on the outskirts of cities,
• consolidated delivery shipments,
• electric light commercial vehicles,
• Investment grants and tax incentives for zero-emission vehicles.

This doesn’t just change the vehicles. Some aspects of the entire inner-city pickup and delivery logistics system need to be rethought.

Our Pilot Project

With this in mind, we are currently developing a decentralized collection logistics system in the Netherlands for used hangers from the apparel retail sector.

This is explicitly not about simply replacing existing delivery vans with electric vehicles. We want to explore how the entire return logistics process can be organized more intelligently.

The goal is to make effective use of electric light commercial vehicles and decentralized collection systems without compromising service quality and—just as importantly—without incurring additional return transportation costs.

After all, environmental improvements will only take hold in the long run if they are also economically viable.

We will report regularly on the findings from this pilot project.

The focus is on questions such as:

• How does the concept hold up in day-to-day operations?
• What impact do battery ranges and charging times have?
• How do access and logistics work within the zero-emission zones?
• How can multiple pickup locations be effectively consolidated?
• What are the actual costs?
• What works better than the current consolidation logistics system?
• Where might new costs arise?
• What practical challenges arise in day-to-day operations?
• And which solutions have proven effective in practice?

The photomontage featuring the cargo bike may therefore be less unrealistic than it seems at first glance. Whether cargo bikes, small electric vans, city hubs, or a combination of different systems will ultimately be used remains to be seen in practice.

What matters most is the principle behind it: the reuse of hangers and low-emission logistics must be considered together.

Our goal remains the same: to combine more environmentally sound logistics with economically viable solutions—and thereby to successfully continue developing closed-loop coat hanger systems that meet the future demands of European city centers.