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Dandora landfill in Kenya
Photo: SIMON MAINA/ AFP
Anyone who donates old clothes does not automatically do good: in Kenya, old clothes exports cause huge mountains of plastic waste and major environmental and health problems.
According to a report presented by the organization Changing Markets Foundation, around 900 million used garments were exported to Kenya in 2021 alone.
Since a large part consists of synthetic materials such as polyester, the report classifies a third as "disguised plastic waste".
Because many old clothes are damaged or soiled, they end up directly in the garbage in Kenya.
"The global trade in used clothing can be seen as an outlet for the Global North's addiction to fast fashion," the authors write.
According to the information, the plastic and textile waste is often burned in huge garbage dumps, for example on the outskirts of the capital Nairobi.
Garbage collectors who search the landfills for recyclables inhale the toxic fumes directly.
According to the report, many in the interviews complained of breathing difficulties and asthma after inhaling smoke from burning plastic at the landfill.
Tons of textiles also end up in rivers and the sea, eventually breaking down into microplastics.
Animals ingest the tiny plastic particles.
Too bad for the secondhand market
"More than one in three used items of clothing exported to Kenya is actually disguised plastic waste and a significant part of the country's toxic plastic pollution," says the report.
The basis for this was customs data and surveys by the non-profit organization Wildlight and the activist group Clean Up Kenya, who conducted dozens of interviews.
20 to 50 percent of the clothes exported to Kenya are no longer good enough to be sold on the local second-hand market.
Some are soiled with vomit or badly damaged.
Others cannot be used because it is too warm in Kenya.
"I've seen people opening bales of ski gear and winter clothes, which is useless to most Kenyans," says Clean Up Kenya founder Betterman Simidi Musasia.
Most of the old clothes exported to Kenya therefore end up in huge landfills.
Musasia calls for better sorting of the garments in the countries of origin before they are exported.
According to experts, the problem is exacerbated by the fast fashion boom, i.e. the sale of fast-changing, cheap fashion.
Many of these garments are only worn a few times before being thrown away.
The Changing Markets Foundation therefore calls for the use of non-toxic and sustainable materials in the manufacture of textiles and for manufacturers worldwide to be more responsible.
ani/dpa