Why Putting Used Clothes in a Recycling Container Doesn’t Allow You to Have a Clear Conscience future planet

A pair of pants spends much less time in our wardrobe than in an African landfill, where we can end up dumping it in a container, comforted by the idea of ​​giving it a second life. Most likely, the garment will travel thousands of kilometers with a carbon footprint included in that journey, and, due to a dismantled and uncontrolled system and the poor quality of its materials, it may never be used again. Its ‘second life’ will ultimately be a mountain of garbage or a polluted open-air bonfire in countries of the Global South, where, for example, 40% of the clothes we send to Africa end up. This is the worrying picture that Greenpeace draws in an investigation published this Wednesday, coinciding with Black Friday.

“The circular economy is not compatible with our uncontrolled production and consumption models. “Right now, the production and acquisition of clothing far exceeds what the system is able to manage in terms of recycling and what the planet can treat as waste,” explains Sara del Rio, Greenpeace research coordinator. An interview with the newspaper.

Greenpeace warns that “the epitome of this distorted model” is Black Friday, where purchases skyrocket, attracted by low prices. The NGO emphasizes that this pattern of clothing consumption is “an environmental time bomb” that cannot be sustained without countries of the Global South “first, producing the clothes, and second, eliminating the waste we throw away.” Manage the waste generated from clothing.” ,

The production and acquisition of clothing at this time far exceeds what the system is able to handle in terms of recycling and what the planet can absorb as waste.

Sara del Rio, Greenpeace

The European Environment Agency’s (EEA) 2024 report, using data from 2020, concludes that the EU generated 6.95 million tonnes of textile waste that year, amounting to about 16 kilograms per capita. Of this, only 4.4 kg was collected separately for potential reuse and recycling, and 11.6 kg ended up in the bin with other household waste.

But Spain is above the European average and has more than 20 kg per capita per year, of which only 2.1 kg is selectively collected. And out of this quantity, only 4% (0.8 kg) are clothes and shoes which we keep in containers after using them. Spain sends these used clothes to more than a hundred countries, mostly African and Asian countries. The three destinations that import the largest quantities of used clothes from our country are the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Pakistan, which are often not their final destination.

Garbage disguised as clothing

The NGO, which reminds that the textile industry is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, emphasizes that this situation has worsened in just a few years. Exports of used clothing from the European Union (EU) tripled and increased from 550,000 tonnes in 2000 to approximately 1.7 million in 2019.

In Spain, according to official data collected by Greenpeace, 92% (129,705 tonnes) of textile waste sold to other countries in 2023 was used clothing. NGO asks: Used clothes or hidden waste? “The amount of textile waste has increased and at the same time the composition of clothing has also changed, as synthetic materials, such as polyester or nylon, which are more polluting and of poorer quality, have been included. We are in theory exporting second-hand clothes, but in many cases they will not be able to be reused,” explains del Río, adding that the clothes were also found to contain substances hazardous to health, such as cadmium or mercury Are.

Each garment has traveled an average of 9,000 kilometers, and in total, the 23 have traveled 205,121 kilometers, which is equivalent to circling the Earth five times.

To support this data, Greenpeace followed the journey of 23 items of clothing for a year with the help of trackers hidden in the clothes, which the NGO placed in containers at Mango and Zara stores in different Spanish cities between August and September 2023. Had deposited. Each has traveled an average of 9,000 kilometres, and in total, the 23 have added 205,121 kilometres, the equivalent of circling the Earth five times, landing in 11 different countries, most of them in the Global South, mainly in Asia. And Africa. Five of the land-based outfits arrived in Togo, Cameroon and Ivory Coast. For example, a pair of pants traveled 22,000 kilometers in 215 days, from Madrid to Abidjan, passing through the United Arab Emirates, until its track was lost. “Evidence of this unstable system,” say Greenpeace researchers.

According to EEA data, about 46% of textiles discarded by European countries go to Africa and 41% to Asia. In Africa, efforts are made to ensure that they can be reused, as there is demand for cheap used clothing from Europe. But, according to Greenpeace, 40% of clothes reaching the continent are not sold and are burned or put in landfills. For example, in Kenya, according to the recycling organization Africa Collect Textiles, 40% of the used clothes they receive are of such poor quality that no one can wear them anymore.

Tons of textile waste in Kenya, Ghana or Tanzania also impact the development and health of their residents, because the management of this waste is not adequate. “These are destinations that suddenly emerge as reclaimed areas in which the environment is also destroyed very quickly,” del Río laments. Additionally, many African countries are considering limiting imports of used textiles to protect local textile production.

Paradoxically, in Asia, the region of the world where most new clothing is manufactured, most used clothing arrives at locations located in free zones near ports or airports, where they are sorted and shipped to African or Asian countries. They are then re-exported to the United States, where they could potentially become garbage or industrial landfills, or may be disposed of in landfills or incinerated due to their low value.

Greenpeace also recalls the case of Bangladesh, where the textile industry used by some European brands generates 20% of GDP and more than 80% of export earnings, while employing 4.5 million people, mostly white. Are women. However, nine out of ten workers cannot buy enough food for themselves and their families with their salaries.

A new law in 2025

Containers in shops are currently voluntary, but from 2025 and under the Waste and Contaminated Soil Law of 2022, municipalities will have to install more to collect textile waste separately and shops will also have an obligation to have them, so that they can be used. The clothes made can be deposited there. Also, businesses will not be able to throw away unsold surplus, which must be allocated to “reuse channels first”. This means they will be more responsible for the waste they produce.

We feel that due to this new rule the waste may have to be thrown as far away as possible so that it cannot be seen.

Sara Del Rio

“There may be more clothes selectively collected due to the legislation, but there may also be more clothes with unwanted final destinations, as there will be more waste to manage and the same capacity. How will he be released? Most likely they will be exported outside the EU,” del Río predicts. He added, “We feel that this new regulation may lead to trash being thrown as far away as possible so as not to be visible.”

Greenpeace emphasizes that the law focuses on “the last link in the chain”, rather than the method of production, which is at the root of the problem, and believes that “it perpetuates the neo-colonial mentality that is promoted by fashion brands.” This model underlines and they are shirking their responsibilities.”

“Much more drastic legislative changes are needed. If a company is fully responsible for the impact caused by its waste, it also has to be responsible for ensuring that it does not end up in an African country, is not incinerated or goes into a landfill, and therefore, it has to reduce manufacturing costs. Must be committed to and high quality clothing. But that’s not what brands advocate,” Del Rio stressed, adding that Greenpeace believes returning to clothing production levels of 25 years ago would already represent a major change in the right direction .

What power does a consumer have to change this massive, destructive scheme? “Small, but important,” Del Rio replies. “First of all, we have to be aware of what this consumption model that brands impose on us means. For example, the low prices of Black Friday are compensated on the other hand by pollution in the countries where the clothes are produced or where the waste comes from,” he concludes.