Parts of Africa are drowning in the millions of used garments that the fast fashion industry ships each year, even though big names like H&M and Zara have pledged to recycle used clothes.
H&M, one of the biggest offenders in the industry, produces three billion garments a year and only recycles about 10 percent of them; the rest is sent to places like Accra, the capital of Ghana, where piles of used clothing flood waterways.
The fast fashion industry, which includes Zara, which is less than 50 percent environmentally sustainable, produces a total of $100 billion a year and recycles just one percent, reports Bloomberg.
Dozens of African countries had hoped that the import of what Gahanna calls obroni wawu, or dead white people’s clothing, would be banned because the influx is too overwhelming for communities to sustain and the quality is too poor for the clothing to be used. cannot be used.
Parts of Africa are drowning in the millions of used garments that the fast fashion industry ships every year. In the photo, a fishing community of Jamestown in Accra, where the beaches are covered with discarded second-hand clothes.
The problem companies face with their ‘sustainable’ clothing programs is the time and money that goes into reuse, and the easiest solution for them is to simply ship it somewhere else.
A bench located in Accra that stands 65 feet tall was not formed by Mother Nature, but by layers of discarded clothing thrown on top of each other.
According to ABC, more than 15 million used garments arrive in the city from the UK, Europe, North America and Australia.
At least 40 percent are of poor quality, rendering them useless and being sent directly to landfills that are spilling over into populated areas.
The streets of Ghana are flooded with second-hand clothes
H&M, a major offender in the industry, produces three billion garments a year and only recycles about 10 percent of them; the rest are sent to places like Accra.
Dozens of African countries awaited the importation of what Gahanna calls obroni wawu, or dead white people’s clothing.
Every year more than 100 billion garments are produced worldwide and 85% of them are thrown into landfills or incinerated.
The average American reportedly throws away 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles each year.
And the amount they buy will increase by 63 percent by 2030.
H&M became the first global fashion retailer to launch a garment collection program in all its stores around the world in 2013.
The company installed recycling boxes for customers to drop off their clothes, regardless of brand.
Since the program began, H&M has collected more than 141,000 tons – more than three million pounds – of textiles from around the world.
DailyMail.com has contacted H&M and Zara for comment.
The reason these clothes are discarded is because they are too poor quality to wear.
The influx of cheap clothing is also hurting the domestic textile industry in Africa, as these companies cannot compete on price.
‘We used to do [clothes]’ a Ugandan second-hand clothing retailer told Bright Magazine.
‘But now there is this new form of colonialism… they want to bring their products in this way, so they can’t afford us [to make our own].’
Several members of the East African Community (EAC) called for a clothing import ban in 2015; the group hoped to end the chaos by 2019.
According to The Stern Opportunity, the group was “bullied” into retracting its petition by the US that allegedly said it would withdraw initiatives in the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
This law is a trade program that gives sub-Saharan African countries preferential access to US markets, allowing them to export products duty-free.
The reason the US is going backwards is that if they lose the ability to export clothing, at least 40,000 US jobs would be eliminated and 150,000 non-profit jobs would be negatively affected.
However, the US is likely to be more concerned that fast fashion companies will leave the US because they would not be able to ship to developing countries.
And in the last five years, the nation’s used clothing industry is worth $662 million annually.
