How our used clothes are clogging Africa
Are you thinking of doing something for the planet by regularly depositing your used clothes in the collection terminals?
Yes and no.
We explain to you the little-known devious effects of this practice and why it cannot be the solution to move towards a more responsible fashion on a global scale.
Donating second-hand clothes is often not the solution
The figures are known: the annual production of textile articles in the world has reached 100 billion and today we consume twice as much clothing as 15 years ago, while keeping them half as long.
The textile collection and recovery sector continues to structure itself to cope with the influx of clothes that we want to get rid of.
Because every year, and as we explain in detail here , the French donate 40% of the items they have purchased.
The vast majority (90%) are deposited in terminals, the remaining 10% are given directly to associations.
And, although it's always better than throwing them away, donating your clothes also generates a series of perverse effects linked to massive exports to Africa .
The clothes we donate are often shipped abroad
If we can appreciate the fact that the majority of the clothes collected (nearly 60%) will be made available to consumers (whether in the form of sales or donations), only a tiny part of the clothes intended for reuse remains . on the French market : 95% are sent abroad, mainly to sub-Saharan Africa.
France , however far behind the United States, exports 155,000 tons of textiles to the African continent , which represents an “Export second-hand clothing” turnover of nearly 75 million euros (French Customs sources).
Overall, Africa imports about 1/8th of the clothes already used in the world, ie one out of eight garments produced “fails” in Africa after being worn.
So, of course, the trade in second-hand clothing supports employment in the destination countries, with the development of appropriate channels and distribution networks.
On the African continent , the second-hand clothing industry thus employs 355,000 people and represents 230 million dollars (195 million euros) in revenue per year, according to a study by the American agency for international aid (USAid).
However, the mass shipment of Western textiles generates two major problems :
- It breaks the local textile industry , which is unable to compete with the colossal supply of second-hand items at very low prices . Why buy locally made clothes at a reasonable price when you can find almost free items through second-hand markets? Local production is literally drowned, leading to factory closures and job losses.
- It leads to an ecological disaster : the quantities clearly exceed local demand and the quality has deteriorated so much in recent years that the clothes are often unsuitable for resale.
Result ?
The destination countries are literally crumbling under mountains of used textiles, which end their lives in huge open-air dumps, frequently finding themselves dragged into the bed of rivers or towards the sea.
Many of these are poor quality garments, made up mainly of synthetic fibers and having received numerous chemical treatments during their manufacture, their decomposition generates emissions of toxic substances, polluting soil and water and contaminating the surrounding populations.
Should you donate your second-hand clothes?
The donation of clothes , seemingly virtuous, turns into a real burden when the quantities of textiles collected are disproportionate, as has become the case in recent years.
The system only shifts the problem of textile waste to countries that are least equipped to manage it.
And it doesn't tackle the basic problem: overconsumption and overproduction of clothes!
Consciously buying fewer, better quality pieces that can be worn longer is what we all need to strive for.
By favoring the second hand , on Paradigme for example, we prolong the life of the clothes and we contribute to reducing the remote textile pollution.
To progress together, not only close to home but also on the other side of the globe.
