Evidence backs secondary textile exports, TRA insists

Textile recyclers mantain a growing body of evidence proves that the levels of textile waste ending up in African countries are ‘dramatically’ less than the estimates of 40% or more which are widely quoted in the media.

The latest report comes from the Ghana Used Clothing Dealers Association which has evaluated the socio-economic and environmental impact of the second-hand clothes trade in Ghana. It maintains the market in the capital Accra is a highly environmentally sustainable textiles ecosystem, which extracts as much value out of materials as possible.

The researchers conclude the amount of textile waste contained within imports of used clothing into the country is up to 5%, with 56% of retailers reporting 1% or less waste in their clothing bales.

This follows a report commissioned by the Dutch Government indicating that 4% of the textiles in bales arriving in Ghana are unsellable (ie waste), and reports from the Mitumba Association in Kenya that 2% of imports there are waste.

UK call

The UK’s Textile Recycling Association (TRA) such findings to reinforce its call for policy makers in the global north to listen to African traders and base their decisions and regulations on well-sourced academic data and evidence.

‘Of course, we want to keep contamination of bales down to an absolute minimum,’ says TRA ceo Alan Wheeler. ‘However, there is growing evidence from properly researched sources that the amount of textile waste being imported into African countries is dramatically less than the estimates of 40% or more that we see widely reported in the media.’

Wheeler is concerned such figures are being used by policy makers to drive regulation, most notably in a proposal from France (backed by Sweden and Denmark) which resulted in headlines indicating that the EU might ban used clothing exports.

Waste management

The TRA insists the Ghana report shows some commentators are ignoring what is actually a wider problem of waste management. If the second-hand clothing trade were to be stopped overnight, it says, Ghanaians would still need to buy clothing. Most likely this would be poorer quality fast fashion from China, which would still end up in the landfill sites and not fix the waste management issues.

Instead the TRA argues it would be more sensible to implement waste management and recycling infrastructures so that African countries can actually fully participate in the movement towards a sustainable circular economy.

The TRA also welcomes the recent launch of the African Used Clothing Traders Alliance.