Africa: the Global North’s dumping ground for unwanted clothes

According to the UN, clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2015 and the world produces around 92 million tonnes of textile waste every year, 89% of which contains synthetic fibres. If we continue with our throwaway fast fashion culture, this situation will only get worse. 

Sub-Saharan Africa is a major destination for the Global North’s unwanted clothing, receiving 70% of the world’s donated clothing. Shockingly, some of these clothes arrive in Africa having been slashed to prevent reselling.

Ghana, home to the world’s largest second-hand clothes market, receives about 15 million second-hand garments in unreturnable ‘donations’ every single week. In theory, this is charity, yet 50% of them are considered unsellable and end up:

• in huge piles that form informal dumpsites, taking decades to decompose, releasing greenhouse gases and blocking drains, which intensifies flooding;

• being burnt, either in open fires or for fuel, which releases dangerously high levels of toxic substances, including carcinogens, into the air; and

• in waterways, increasing the risk of waterborne diseases amongst vulnerable people, smothering animals’ natural habitats and destroying fishing communities’ livelihoods.

  
  

Similar scenarios are to be found across Africa. It’s no wonder this situation has been labelled ‘waste colonisation’ and ‘environmental racism’.

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So how can we help tackle this injustice?

A focus on sustainable production alongside reusing and repairing textiles is what the UN recommends. 

It’s advisable to choose items that we think will last, such as bags, purses and clothes with sturdy-looking zips, where applicable. 

Many of us in the UK live close to charity shops where we can purchase second-hand clothes. We can also offer up unwanted clothes and obtain new-to-us clothes through online or in-person marketplaces, groups and sales. 

We should be wary of collection bins and door-to-door collections for textiles because these sometimes end up being shipped to developing countries. It’s often better to give away unwanted textiles to people you know or take them directly to a charity shop.

What’s more, we can spread the word on social media and sign Greenpeace’s petition about fast fashion and plastic pollution. 

In the words of the anti-consumerist activist Annie Leonard, ‘There is no such thing as ‘away’. When you throw something away, it must go somewhere.’

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For more information contact: info@scarabtrust.org.uk

Image: Waste on Shore in Ghana - Image by Kevin McElvaney / Greenpeace (ST ref: 1395)