New research reveals that there are over 50 million unwanted coat hangers stashed away in Irish homes and over 10 million of them go straight to landfill every year when they could be recycled.
The average Irish person has 67 coat hangers in their home and 18% of these are not used and end up in the bin.
The remainder are gathering dust and taking up valuable storage space in lofts, garages and wardrobes.
As a result of the survey, Marks & Spencer is to hold the first 'coat hanger amnesty' in 11 of its stores in Britain and Ireland, including M&S in the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre.
From 20 September to 22 September customers will be able to take any unwanted plastic coat hangers to the M&S store in Liffey Valley.
Company spokesperson Guy Farrant said M&S has been reusing and recycling its hangers for 15 years but has found that many customers simply do not know what to do with their unwanted hangers.
M&S customers are currently asked if they need their coat hanger with their purchase or if they would like it recycled instead.
The company says in the past 15 years it has recycled over 1 billion coat hangers, saving over 32,000 tonnes of plastic from ending up as landfill.
The company hopes that customers will dig out all their unwanted hangers, not just M&S ones, and bring them to be recycled.
