In recent years, we have witnessed a radical change in consumer habits, prompting them to replace an item of clothing as soon as it no longer seems to be on trend or in line with the fashion of the moment. This approach has many consequences, including the shortening of the life cycle of clothes, which has the additional effect of creating accumulations of textiles and garments in vulnerable areas with poor waste management.
In 2020, 6.95 million tonnes of textile waste were generated in the European Union, with an average of 16 kg per inhabitant (Source: Il riciclo in Italia- Rapporto 2024). Many of the discarded garments, often collected with the intention of helping those in need, end up in illegal dumps instead, exacerbating the environmental devastation in many developing countries. Over the past two decades, the amount of used textiles exported from EU countries to Africa and Asia has tripled, further fuelling the problem.
This is the case, for example, in the second-hand markets of Kantamento, Ghana, and Dandora, Kenya. Many local traders buy second-hand clothes, which come mainly from Western countries, with the aim of reselling them to the community and making a profit. The reality, however, hides a more complex scenario. In fact, many of the garments that arrive are in poor condition, which makes it difficult for them to find buyers, and they end up being accumulated in illegal dumps, burnt under the open sky or dispersed in the surrounding environment. This happens because of a limited knowledge of environmental issues, but also because of inadequate management and collection systems.
A further aspect to be taken into account, which contributes to worsening the situation, concerns the materials from which clothes currently in common use are made. More and more often, in fact, the clothes we wear are made of synthetic materials, which makes their post-consumer management even more complex, especially in places where infrastructure is lacking or inadequate. As a result, as highlighted in the Greenpeace report, entitled “Fast Fashion, Slow Poison: The Toxic Textile Crisis in Ghana”, there are worrying amounts of toxic substances, including benzene and other carcinogenic hydrocarbons, in the vicinity of landfills. Furthermore, the synthetic fibres that make up the garments, if not properly disposed of, leak into the environment, contaminating soils, rivers and seas with microplastics.
In accordance with the ‘Waste Framework Directive’ 2008/98/EC, by 1 January 2025 EU Member States have to set up separate collection systems for used and waste textiles (in Italy they are already active since 1 January 2022 in accordance with Decreto Legislativo 116/2020). At the same time, the capacity for sorting textiles at source needs to be strengthened, in order to be able to send them to the best destination and avoid the impacts mentioned above. In addition, the waste management system and its export require a strengthening of controls so that no channels are created through which waste can be sent to countries with less stringent environmental regulations.
The European Union is moving in this direction, contributing funding to research and development projects that aim to create conditions and support measures to facilitate the transition to a circular supply chain system. One example is the SCIRT (System Circularity & Innovative Recycling of Textiles) project that brought together 18 partners from 5 different countries to develop a recycling system for natural and synthetic fibres and fibre blends. (Read also: Project SCIRT). At the local level, two projects were instead activated within the Climaborough programme, RiVestiTo and Traccia-TO. The first one, carried out by Atelier Riforma with Mercato Circolare and Huulke, aims at improving the cataloguing of garments in a digital and more precise way, through the apps of Mercato circolare and Re4circular (by Atelier Riforma), developed specifically to connect the realities of collection and sorting of used garments with those that search them for recycling and resale. Traccia-TO on the other hand, in collaboration with Erion , E.R.I.C.A and Re-learn, proposes to define methodologies to improve the collection of textile waste and WEEE, with a focus in the San Salvario district with the aim of replicating the proposed method in other districts of the city.
In conclusion, a united and targeted action to improve the recycling management of used garments and pre and post-production textile waste is essential. At the same time, however, it is necessary to intervene on consumption habits, to incentivise the purchase of more durable and long-lasting quality garments and to opt for sustainable or more easily recyclable materials (mono-material or natural fibre fabrics).
For more:
Africa, the dumping ground for used clothes
A MOUNTAIN OF CLOTHES - THE HIDDEN IMPACT OF OUR TEXTILE WASTE