Why putting used clothes in a recycling bin does not allow you to have a clear conscience

A pair of pants spends much less time in our wardrobe than in the African landfill where it may end up after we leave it in a container, comforted by the idea of giving it a second life. Very likely, the garment will travel thousands of miles, with the carbon footprint that this journey entails, and due to a collapsed and uncontrolled system and the poor quality of its materials, it will never be used again. Its ‘second life’ will ultimately be a mountain of garbage in countries of the Global South or a polluting open-air bonfire, where 40% of the clothes we send to Africa end up. This is the alarming picture drawn by Greenpeace Spain coinciding with Black Friday, in an investigation published on Wednesday.

To support this data, Greenpeace Spain placed tracking devices on 23 items of clothing and followed their journey for a year after depositing them in collection containers at Mango and Zara stores in various Spanish cities, between August and September 2023.

Each item travelled an average of 9,000 km (almost 5,600 miles), and in total, the 23 travelled a combined 205,121 km (127,455 mi), which is equivalent to going around the Earth five times. The geolocated garments ended up in 11 different countries, most of them in the Global South, mainly in Asia and Africa. Five ended up in Togo, Cameroon and Ivory Coast. One pair of pants travelled 22,000 km (13,670 mi) in 215 days, from Madrid to Abidjan, via the United Arab Emirates, until its trail was lost, serving as “proof of this unsustainable system,” say Greenpeace researchers.

“The circular economy is not compatible with the uncontrolled production and consumption model we have right now. At the moment, the production and acquisition of clothing is far above what the system is able to manage in terms of recycling, and what the planet can take in terms of waste volume,” explains Sara del Río, coordinator of the Greenpeace investigation, in an interview with this newspaper.

A “symbol of this perverse model” is Black Friday, when purchases skyrocket due to lower prices, warns Greenpeace. The NGO stresses that this pattern of clothing consumption is “an environmental time bomb” that cannot be sustained without the countries of the Global South being there to, “first, produce our clothing, and, second, manage the waste generated by the clothes we throw away.”

The production and acquisition of clothing at the moment is far above what the system is able to manage in terms of recycling, and what the planet can take in terms of waste volume

Sara del Río, Greenpeace

A 2024 report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), using 2020 data, concludes that in that year the European Union generated 6.95 million tonnes of textile waste, about 16 kg per person. Of this, only 4.4 kg was collected separately for potential reuse and recycling, and 11.6 kg ended up in the trash can along with other household waste.

Waste disguised as clothing

Greenpeace notes that the textile industry is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and insists that the situation has worsened in just a few years. The export of used clothing from the European Union (EU) has tripled, rising from 550,000 tonnes in 2000 to almost 1.7 million in 2019.

Used clothing or waste in disguise?, the NGO asks. “The amount of textile waste has increased and at the same time the composition of clothing has changed, because synthetic materials, such as polyester or nylon, which are more polluting and of poorer quality, have been incorporated. We are theoretically exporting second-hand clothing, but in many cases it cannot be used again,” explains Del Rio, adding that substances that are dangerous to health, such as cadmium or mercury, have also been detected in clothing.

Each item of clothing has travelled an average of 9,000 kilometres, and in total, the 23 have travelled 205,121 km, which is equivalent to going around the Earth five times.

According to EEA data, around 46% of textiles discarded by European countries end up in Africa, and 41% in Asia. In Africa, efforts are made to reuse them, as there is a demand for cheap used clothing from Europe. But according to Greenpeace, 40% of the clothing that arrives on the continent is not sold and ends up burned or in landfill. In Kenya, for example, according to the recycling organization Afrika Collect Textiles, 40% of the used clothing they receive is of such poor quality that no one can wear it anymore.

The tons of textile waste in Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania also have an impact on the development and health of their inhabitants, because the management of this waste is not adequate. “These are destinations that suddenly emerge as receiving areas where the environment is destroyed very quickly,” laments Del Río. Several African countries are considering limiting imports of used textiles, in order to protect local textile production.

In Asia, paradoxically the region of the world where a majority of this clothing is manufactured, most used textiles arrive at places located in free trade zones near seaports or airports, where they are classified and re-exported to African or other Asian countries, where they can potentially be converted into rags or industrial fillers, or else be discarded in landfills or incinerated due to their low value.

Greenpeace also points to the case of Bangladesh, where the textile industry generates 20% of GDP and more than 80% of export earnings, while employing 4.5 million people, mostly women. However, nine out of 10 workers cannot afford to buy enough food for themselves and their families with the wages they receive.

A new law in 2025

In Spain, for now, the collection containers in stores are voluntary, but starting in 2025, under the Waste and Contaminated Land Act of 2022, municipalities will have to install many more to collect textile waste separately, and shops will also be obliged to have them. At the same time, stores will not be able to throw away unsold surpluses, which must be allocated “first of all to reuse channels.” In other words, they will need to be more responsible for the waste they generate.

We get the feeling that this new regulation may also cause waste to be thrown as far away as possible in order not to be seen

Sara del Río

“More clothes may be selectively collected thanks to the law, but there may also be more garments with an unwanted final destination, because there will be more waste to manage with the same level of capacity. How will they be disposed of? Most likely by exporting them outside the EU,” predicts Del Río. “We have the feeling that this new regulation may also cause waste to be thrown as far away as possible in order not to be seen,” she adds.

Greenpeace insists that this legislation focuses “on the last link in the chain” and not on the way that clothing is produced, which is at the root of the problem. It “perpetuates the neocolonialist mentality underlying this model promoted by fashion brands and their evasion of responsibilities.”

“Much more drastic legislative changes are required. If a company is fully responsible for the impact of its waste, it must also be responsible for ensuring that it does not end up in an African country, burned or in a landfill, and therefore it must commit to producing fewer and higher quality garments. But this is not what the brands are advocating,” says Del Río, stressing that Greenpeace believes that returning to the production levels of 25 years ago would already represent a substantial change in the right direction.

What power does a consumer have to change this gigantic, desolate scheme? “A small, but important one,” Del Río answers. “First of all, we have to be aware of what this model of consumption imposed on us by brands implies. For example, the low prices of Black Friday are compensated for elsewhere, starting with pollution in countries where the clothes are produced or where the waste arrives,” she concludes.

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