Are second-hand clothes charity or pollution?

On a day I am very smart, and you mention it, I am likely to be honest with you: My designer stuff are probably imported from the West, except that they were shipped as bales. Having an eye for designer stuff makes some difference.

Second-hand clothes are a source of livelihood for many. According to “Job Creation in Africa’s Second-hand Clothing Sector”, a study commissioned by Humana People to People development network, the sector directly employs over 1.28 million people in Africa, with up to 2.5 million “dependent on income from the sector”. Some dealers have accessed credit and done massive projects, while tax revenues from the sector is key to Africa’s economic growth.

Proponents of recycling and circular economy know wearing second-hand clothes reduces need to manufacture new ones, minimising pollution. According to UNEP and UN Habitat, “Doubling the number of times a garment is worn reduces GHG emissions by 44 per cent.” Besides, second-hand clothes are cheaper, and you rarely meet someone with similar cloth.

But all these do not outweigh long-term environmental and health impacts of second-hand clothes. In my efforts to make more income streams, I have once sold second hand stuff and realised you can never sell everything in a bale. Part of it must always be waste, forcing one to sell quality ones at higher prices.

Such do not serve the purpose for which they were brought to Africa. In the Kenyan Gikomba, a nearby river also harbours dumped clothes. Some end up in dumpsites, while others are burnt, causing harm to environment.

Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Accra are some of African cities grappling with waste clothes, which are not biodegradable. Some clothes eventually break down into micro-plastics, which are washed into water bodies and soil, contaminating any food from them and being harmful to people and biodiversity health.

Proponents of the business, however, see it differently. A MCAK report titled “The Quality of Second-Hand Clothes Imported to Kenya and the Associated Environmental Impacts,” says only 2 per cent of the clothes cannot be reused. They are always sold to the rag industry, reducing the amount dumped in rivers. The group says only 1.98 per cent end up at Dandora dumping site.

Growing up, Kicomi and Rivatex were familiar names. But if they survive today, such local manufacturers hardly compete. Could powerful global economic forces be using second-hand clothes to kill local industries, considering the threats and setbacks the EAC has faced in efforts to ban their imports with the aim to revive local textile industries? This could be waste colonisation.

More carbon emissions are in transportation of bales in cargo ships. African nations should collectively demand quality checks to ensure the second-hand clothes shipped in are devoid of waste.

Meanwhile, we must invest in textile recycling infrastructure to manage cloth waste. Policies must be revived to protect local textile industries for true sustainability and economic dependence without environmental degradation.

According to a 2023 study by African Circular Economy Alliance, at most “10 per cent of textile waste in Africa is recycled. An example is the “Made in Rwanda” policy set to regain independence in the textile industry and address environmental hazards of textile waste. Uganda and Tanzania are trying partial bans through higher import tariffs. It is doable.

As “International Day of Zero Waste” themed “Towards zero waste in fashion and textiles”, is marked next week, let’s purpose to return to sustainable textile production and consumption practices, embrace true recycling, repair, making of durable clothes, and deliberate Extended Producer Responsibility schemes.

Africa must not receive global waste, clothed in charity, with open arms without being alive to their environmental effects.