“The Global North is using the sale of used clothes as a pressure relief valve when dealing with fast fashion’s huge waste problem,” states a recent report.
A third of the used clothes exported to Kenya in 2021 were “plastic waste in disguise”, says a Dutch In a report published by the Changing Markets Foundation on Thursday (you will switch to another service). According to the report, the donated clothes cause many environmental and health problems for the locals.
Every year, tons of donated clothes are sent to developing countries, but an estimated 30 percent of them end up in landfills or local markets, possibly stifling local production.
According to a report by the Dutch Foundation, about 900 million used clothes are sent to Kenya every year. A significant part of the clothes are made of polyester or other oil-based materials and are in such bad condition that they cannot be donated.
Unfit clothes may end up burning in landfills near the capital, Nairobi, where they expose people collecting garbage to toxic gases. Tons of textiles also end up in waterways, where they break down into microfibers and end up in the bodies of aquatic animals.
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The research is based on customs data, as well as field work by the NGO Wildlight and the activist group Clean Up Kenya, and dozens of interviews. According to the report, some of the clothes were badly stained or damaged.
Unusable clothes are used as cleaning cloths in industry or as cheap fuel for roasting peanuts. Some end up in the river or end up in the market, and some are sent to huge plastic cemeteries outside the capital.
Experts say the clothing waste problem is exacerbated by the fast fashion boom in rich countries. Many clothes, often made of synthetic fibers, are worn only a few times.
The report calls for the use of non-toxic and sustainable materials in the manufacture of textiles and producer responsibility.
– The Global North uses the sale of used clothes as a pressure relief valve when dealing with the huge waste problem of fast fashion, the report reads.
More on the topic:
Kenya wanted to ban the import of used clothes, but the US blocked the plans – used clothes imported from Western countries are crippling the Kenyan textile industry
MOT put transmitters in recycled clothes: where does your old clothes end up?