Why Jockey’s Single-Use Hanger Is a Design Failure — And How It Could Lead the Industry Instead
Open a pack of innerwear from any large brand and you’ll often find a small plastic hook or hanger attached to the packaging. Its only job is to let the pack hang neatly on a retail display.
The moment the product comes home, that hook has no purpose. It goes straight into the dustbin.
This is exactly what happens with the plastic hook in Jockey’s innerwear packaging. It’s a textbook example of waste created at the product-design stage. There is no reuse system, no take-back, no recyclability information. Just a single-use plastic object that exists for a few weeks on a shelf and then sits for centuries in a landfill.
In a world trying to move towards circularity, this is low-hanging fruit (pun intended) for change.
Why This “Tiny” Hook Is Not a Small Problem
Globally, the apparel industry is a major source of plastic pollution. One study estimates that the apparel sector generated 8.3 million tonnes of plastic pollution in 2019, including packaging and other plastics used along the value chain.PMC
Across industries, about 43% of all plastic manufactured is used for packaging, much of it single use.Intellecap Fashion packaging alone is estimated to create around 60,000 tonnes of plastic waste every year.SANVT
Hangers and hooks are a quiet part of that problem:
It’s estimated that 8–10 billion clothes hangers (metal and plastic) are produced every year, yet only about 15% are recycled.UBQ Materials+1
Researchers have called garment hangers an “environmental time bomb” and shown that hundreds of millions are used in just a single country like the UK.Northumbria University
Now add smaller, unbranded “accessories” like underwear hooks: they’re even less visible in sustainability discussions, even more likely to be mixed with household waste, and too small for most municipal recycling systems to capture.
The result:
A product that adds no value at home, has no second life, and quietly increases India’s plastic leakage problem. Uncollected plastic packaging waste alone could cost India USD 68 billion in lost material value by 2030.Plastics For Change
This is a classic example of how single-use, non-recoverable packaging components can slip through design decisions — and why revisiting them can unlock sustainability gains
The Design Question: Why Does This Hook Exist At All?
From a design perspective, the Jockey hook exists for one stakeholder only: the retailer, who wants easy hanging and visibility.
Consumers don’t need it.
The product doesn’t need it once it leaves the shop.
The city and the planet definitely don’t need it.
This is precisely the sort of packaging that circular-economy thinkers say should be eliminated first. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s vision for plastics starts with:
“Elimination of problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging through redesign, innovation, and new delivery models is a priority.” Ellen MacArthur Foundation+1
If you were designing innerwear packaging from scratch with circularity in mind, you would first ask:
Is this component necessary at all?
If yes, can it be reusable, recyclable, or compostable?
If not, why are we making it?
Right now, this hook fails question 1.
Do Reverse Supply Chains for Hangers and Hooks Exist?
Short answer: yes for big hangers, almost never for small hooks like this.
What exists today
Companies like Mainetti, Tam Hangers and BABA run large-scale hanger reuse and recycling programs for retailers, reusing hundreds of millions of hangers and recycling the rest.tamhangers.com+2babaingroup.com+2
Programs like PACT in North America collect used hangers from retail stores, sort them, and send them back into reuse loops instead of landfill.Sourcing Journal
Jockey Australia itself mentions that its hangers are reused via a partnership with PACT, keeping them out of landfill.jockey.com.au
MUJI uses paper hooks and hangers for innerwear and allows customers to bring them back to in-store recycling boxes.muji.com
So the idea of a hanger reverse supply chain is not new. It’s already working at scale for full-size hangers in some markets.
What seems to be missing
We could not find any evidence of:
A specific reverse supply chain for tiny underwear hooks like the one used in Jockey’s Indian packaging.
Any publicly advertised Jockey India program to take back these hooks or redesign them. (Their sustainability report talks about responsible sourcing of packaging materials, but not about eliminating or recovering single-use display hooks.static01.jockey.in)
In other words: the logistics and know-how exist, but no one has bothered to apply them to this tiny plastic component.
A Simple Design Framework: “No-Need, No-Plastic, Full-Loop”
The good news is: this problem is solvable. And it’s solvable at the design table, before a single hook is moulded.
Here’s a three-step framework brands like Jockey could use for every packaging component, starting with these hooks.
1. NO-NEED: Eliminate what isn’t essential
Question: Can the product function, be sold, and be stored without this piece?
For the underwear hook, alternatives already exist:
Folded cardboard or paper sleeves stacked on shelves
Simple peg-ready holes punched into the outer pouch
Drawer-style displays instead of hanging displays
If any of these display methods are acceptable to retailers, the answer is clear: eliminate the hook entirely.
This aligns directly with circular design principles that prioritise preventing waste and pollution at the design stage rather than trying to manage it afterwards.Ellen MacArthur Foundation+1
2. NO-PLASTIC: If you really need it, switch materials
If retailers genuinely require a hanging mechanism, then the next question is:
Can this be made from a material that supports circularity?
Options include:
Recycled cardboard hooks – already in the market as strong, plastic-free hanger alternatives for apparel.Khang Thành
Paperboard tags with built-in hooks attached to the pouch, recyclable with paper streams (like MUJI’s paper hooks).muji.com
Biobased and certified compostable materials – but only if local composting infrastructure exists; otherwise, they risk becoming “greenwashed” plastic.
The key is to choose materials that can:
Be collected easily
Enter a known recycling stream (paper, cardboard, metal)
Avoid creating microplastics
3. FULL-LOOP: If plastic remains, design a reverse supply chain
If, after all this, there is still a business case for a plastic hanger/hook, then it must be part of a loop, not a straight line to landfill.
That means:
Take-back programs: clearly marked drop-off points at retail stores where customers can return hooks and hangers when they buy their next pack.
Partnership with hanger-reuse companies like PACT, Tam Hangers, Mainetti, or local recyclers who specialise in plastics recovery.tamhangers.com+2Sourcing Journal+2
Material standardisation: using a single, high-quality polymer so that recycling is technically feasible and economical.
Brands already do this in other segments. Patagonia, for example, has a clear goal that by 2025 its packaging will be 100% reusable, home-compostable, renewable or easily recyclable, made from recycled and certified materials.Patagonia+1 IKEA’s circular design principles similarly emphasise renewable/recycled materials, design for repair and reuse, and planning for end-of-life from the outset.IKEA+1
There is no reason innerwear packaging should be exempt.
What Sustainable Alternatives Could Look Like (Concrete Ideas)
Here are specific, implementable options for a brand like Jockey:
Hook-free pouch + shelf display
Replace hanging hooks with neatly stackable pouches or small boxes.
Use bold but minimal front-of-pack branding and colour coding for size.
Retailers shift from hanging rails to shallow trays or shelves.
Cardboard hook integrated into the label
Design a die-cut cardboard hook that is part of the main label or sleeve.
After purchase, the entire piece goes into paper/cardboard recycling.
This is already used by some apparel brands for socks and small garments.Hurtta.com
Paper hooks with in-store recycling (MUJI-style)
Use thick paper hooks attached to innerwear.
Provide branded collection boxes in stores where customers can drop them back, alongside other paper waste.muji.com
Closed-loop plastic hook (only if elimination is impossible)
Make hooks from a single, high-quality recycled plastic.
Mark them clearly (“Return to store – Reused by Jockey”).
Partner with an existing hanger-reuse program or recycler to collect, sort and remanufacture hooks.tamhangers.com+2babaingroup.com+2
Has Anyone Built a Design Framework for This Kind of Change?
Yes. Across the world, several organisations and brands have developed frameworks that Jockey could borrow from:
Ellen MacArthur Foundation: its circular-economy work emphasises eliminating unnecessary packaging, applying reuse models, and ensuring remaining plastics are reusable, recyclable, or compostable.Ellen MacArthur Foundation+1
Circular packaging design guidelines: academic and industry work now provides design rules and tools for circular packaging – from material choices and label design to end-of-life pathways.ScienceDirect+1
IKEA’s circular product design guide: focuses on designing products to be reused, repaired, refurbished, and recycled, including principles like designing for renewable/recycled materials and easy disassembly.IKEA+1
Patagonia’s packaging commitments: setting time-bound goals (100% recycled, reusable, compostable, or easily recyclable packaging by 2025) and publishing clear criteria for materials.Patagonia+1
Jockey doesn’t need to invent a framework from scratch. It can adapt these circular design principles specifically to packaging accessories like hooks, stickers, labels and polybags.
What’s In It for Jockey? From Tiny Hook to Big Brand Story
If Jockey redesigns this hook, it’s not just “one more sustainability initiative”. It’s a story they can tell powerfully:
Leadership in “designing out” waste
Jockey could publicly commit to eliminating all single-use display plastics from its packaging by a target year.
This aligns with global movements and regulations targeting problem plastics first.AP News+1
Alignment with India’s climate and Mission LiFE narrative
India is already pushing for lifestyle changes that reduce resource use and waste. Removing an unnecessary single-use plastic from a mass-market product fits perfectly into that narrative.
Consumer trust and differentiation
Parents buying innerwear for their children are often the same people worried about microplastics and climate impacts. A clear “no single-use plastic display hooks” badge on the pack is a simple, visible proof-point.
Supply-chain efficiency and cost
Eliminating a component entirely often reduces procurement complexity and cost. Where not eliminated, switching to standardised, recyclable materials can also lower long-term waste-management risks.
Inspiration for industry-wide change
Once one big brand does it, retailers will adjust displays, competitors will feel pressure, and you have the beginnings of a new norm.
Imagine a future Jockey campaign:
“We removed 50 million single-use hooks from our packaging.
That’s thousands of tonnes of plastic our children will never have to live with.”
That’s the kind of message that sticks.
Conclusion: Start With the Hook
The plastic hook on Jockey’s innerwear packs perfectly illustrates a bigger truth: waste is a design decision.
If we design products and packaging without asking whether each component is necessary, circular, and recoverable, we lock in waste for decades. But if we apply a simple framework — No-Need, No-Plastic, Full-Loop — we can redesign even the tiniest part of a product to prevent waste before it exists.
Jockey already has a sustainability story in parts of its business. Extending that mindset to something as small as this hook would:
Reduce hidden plastic waste
Demonstrate genuine circular-design thinking
And give the brand a credible, measurable story of change to share with customers.
All from one little piece of plastic that never needed to exist in the first place.
Disclaimer:
This article is based on publicly available information and environmental design research.
The observations shared here are intended to highlight opportunities for reducing single-use packaging waste across the apparel industry.
Aditi Deodhar
Project Lead: Mission City Chakra
Centre for Sustainable Development, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (www.csd.gipe.ac.in)
Founder-Director: Jeevitnadi – Living River Foundation (www.jeevitnadi.org)
Founder: Brown Leaf (www.brownleaf.org)