The fall of fast-fashion, marked by rapid churn of choices, has led to a threefold increase in the global business of used clothes in the last 4 decades. With more than 80 % of all purchased clothing items globally ( 62 % in the EU) being disposed of as general garbage, which is incinerated or landfilled, this represents a massive waste of resources, causing severe environmental and health impacts. A comprehensive analysis of second-hand clothing trade between Europe and Chile is included in a report released by UNECE and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC ). It also provides policy recommendations to the sector, exporting and importing nations, to address this issue.
According to UN Comtrade data, in 2021 the European Union ( 30 % ), China ( 16 % ), and the United States ( 15 % ) were the leading exporters of discarded clothes, while Asia ( 28 %, predominantly Pakistan ), Africa ( 19 %, especially Ghana and Kenya ), and Latin America ( 16 %, mainly Chile and Guatemala ) were the leading importers.
The development of low-cost synthetic fibers and trade reform, which allowed the outsourcing of manufacturing to nations with low-wage labor, have helped to facilitate this. Large sizes of clothes are made from difficult-to-separate combined fibres, making opportunities for financial modify and recycling rare, especially in developed countries.
” When did we restore throwing clothing aside”?, questions Lily Cole, Climate Activist and Advisor to UNECE. ” As the globe, mainly the Global North, has produced and consumed fashion at an unending level, a handful of countries, mainly in the Global South, have become graves for the world’s unwanted clothing. The shifting social, economic, and social surroundings that gave birth to the textile mountains caught my attention while I was in the Atacama Desert. Consumer awareness is very helpful, but, finally, we need policies to curb widespread trends, which is why this report and its recommendations are thus necessary”.
Europe: processing and recycling powers lag behind
In Europe simply 15-20 % of disposed garments are collected, usually through pots, door-to-door collection and gifts. About half of the collected garments are downcycled to be used as, for instance, coating, filling, and single-use professional washes. Only 1 % of the output is recycled, making way for new clothes, and the rest is exported to developing nations.
Of the 55 % of collected outfits that are washable, only 5 percentage points have a value on second-hand areas in the EU, while 50 percentage points have a value on export markets.
The European Union has so tripled its imports of used clothing over the past 2 years, from 550, 000 to 1.7 million loads. More than a third of global used clothes imports are currently made up of Europe, including the United Kingdom, and this share is expected to increase as set costs are expected to rise.
A design-led round business strategy to attire is still in its infancy. The EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles was approved in 2022, the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation was approved in 2023, and the EU Circular Economy Action Plan ( CEAP ) was adopted in 2020. These initiatives continue to bear fruit in the form of extensive inland improvements to the issues of textile waste.
” The employed clothes international market is continuously growing, and with it, its negative effects. The textile industry has a crucial responsibility to choose more green practices, exporters and importers to choose appropriate policy decisions to foster traceability, circularity and sustainability. This transition will be supported by UN/CEFACT policy recommendations and standards. And of course, we all have a role to play, as consumers, to make sustainable choices”, stressed UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean.
In Chile, for instance, mountains of used clothing are visible from the moon.
Most countries in Latin America ( including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru ) have introduced clothing import bans to protect their national textile and fashion industries and avoid the threats posed by clothing dumps.
By contrast, Chile levies zero tariffs, and applies no quantity restrictions in imports, only requiring shipments to be sanitised ( by fumigation ). It has thus become one of the top 10 importers in the world, and the first in Latin America, receiving 126, 000 tons of textiles in 2021.40 % of these entered the country through the northern port of Iquique, where they are manually sorted, primarily by women, and separated into first, second, and third quality.
75 % of all imported used clothes were deemed non-reusable, 30, 000 tons of which are covering today 30 hectares of the Atacama desert, generating pollution and creating hazard to local communities ‘ health. The trade in second-hand clothing also provides employment and formal and informal income for national and migrant populations in well-established stores and open-air markets across the nation, so this must be taken into account when redefining public policies.
The EU and Chile must work together to develop robust regulatory frameworks in order to address the social and environmental concerns of the trade in used textiles. A collaboration between Chile and the European Union could lead to novel ways to regulate and lessen the effects of second-hand textile trade, including by establishing new international standards for the trade of used textiles with an emphasis on sustainability and social responsibility. Highlights UNECLAC Executive Secretary, Mr. José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.
Multifold recommendations
The report contains a series of recommendations to the textile industry, exporters and importers.
To exporting countries
- Make circular economy considerations central to the design of clothing, with mandatory targets for fibre composition that improve quality, durability, repairability, and recyclability
- Introduce a system of producers ‘” Embedded Producer Responsibility” ( EPR ) that holds them accountable for the goods they produce.
- Develop more sorting and recycling plants, through financial incentives
- Use of digital product passports ( DPPs ) to establish the minimum EU requirements for second-hand clothing exports.
- Run awareness-raising campaigns to persuade consumers to choose their clothes in better ways.
To importing nations, take Chile as an example.
- Improve customs procedures and administrative measures at the port of Iquique to ensure digital traceability of flows of used clothing and textiles in accordance with the UN/CEFACT traceability standard
- Create a circular economy strategy for textiles
- Set-up public-private alliances for recycling projects through tax extension schemes and funds to support entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation for vulnerable groups, particularly in the Tarapacá region
- Improve the legal framework for waste management
- Implement a Regional Solid Waste Control Plan, involving inspections of sanitary landfills, clean points, and dumps to increase the enforcement capacity of regional health authorities
- Accelerate the adoption of the draft law from Chile regarding soil environmental quality.
Additionally, the report suggests updating international trade agreements like the 2023 Interim Trade Agreement between the EU and Chile, which has a chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development, to promote bilateral cooperation, and using this as a case study for future bilateral trade agreements between the EU and other nations.
Click here to download the joint UNECLAC / UNECE report.
To download the Executive Summary