Textile Waste: A Global Issue, Not Just a Recycling Problem  

Before we dive into the details, let’s first understand what we're talking about. In the fashion industry, there are different types of textile waste, but today, we’ll focus on post-consumer textile waste. This is the waste generated after a garment has been worn and discarded by consumers. Why does this matter? Well, post-consumer textile waste accounts for a staggering 87% of the fashion industry’s total waste.

But this issue isn’t just about the volume of waste— we've already covered that in our article The Hidden Waste of Fast Fashion. Today, we’re focusing on the consequences of the global trade of textile waste and why it’s a new form of colonialism: Waste Colonialism.

Our consumption habits have created a system where countries in the Global South end up having to manage the bulk of this waste, leading to severe environmental and social impacts. This system echoes colonial practices, where resources were exploited from colonized nations, leaving lasting harm to both people and the environment.

In short, this isn’t just about waste. It’s about how our consumption patterns continue to fuel inequality and environmental harm in the Global South. By failing to properly manage the waste we create, we are perpetuating a colonial system of waste disposal—one that disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities. Let’s explore these impacts and why it’s time for us to rethink our role in it.

The Links Between Fast Fashion and the Textile Waste Trade

The fashion industry today is built on overproduction and excessive consumption, driven by aggressive advertising and rapidly shifting trends. Clothing brands churn out cheap, low-quality garments at an unprecedented scale, encouraging consumers to buy more while devaluing the clothes they already own. As a result, more clothing ends up as waste, discarded after minimal use.

Adding to the problem is what can be called fossil fashion—the fact that most of our clothes today are made of synthetic materials like polyester, which is derived from fossil fuels. Polyester is dominating the market, representing 70% of all fibres produced: contributing to a rise in microplastic pollution in oceans, soil, and even human bodies. This shift means that modern clothing is not only lower in quality but also harder to recycle, leading to massive textile waste accumulation worldwide.

Textile Exports: The Line Between Used and Waste Is Blurring

The trade of used clothing between the Global North and South has existed for decades, with second-hand markets deeply embedded in many African cities. The issue doesn’t lie in the existence of the trade itself – but rather the growing flood of low-quality, unsellable waste being offloaded to other countries. The sorting process that takes place in Europe allows us to  keep the highest value materials at home to re-use while the increasing volume of low quality materials is simply sent out under a common label of “used clothing” without much more care about its condition. So, for every shipment, the actual quantity of usable items has dropped, while what should have been labelled as waste and taken out of the second-hand market to be managed as such has increased.

This unchecked dumping devastates local economies that once thrived on second-hand sales while also creating severe health and environmental consequences. This practice, known as waste colonialism, mirrors what happens in the plastic industry, where wealthy nations export their waste to countries in the Global South for disposal.

Despite the declining quality, large exporters in Europe and major importers in Africa still profit because they sell clothing by weight. However, smaller retailers buy bales without knowing the contents and sell items individually. As more of the clothing they receive is unsellable, they bear the financial risk, often falling into debt just to keep their businesses afloat.

With one of the highest per capita textile waste rates in Europe, Ireland is an active player in this system.

Ireland’s Role as an exporting nation.

Ireland, like many other wealthy nations, plays a role in this crisis—exporting tens of thousands of tonnes of textiles under the guise of reuse. Exporting textile waste remains a profitable industry in Ireland. The country exports around 28,700 tons of used textiles and textile waste annually. This only accounts for about 16% of the total textile waste generated. Still, this small percentage represents a €25 million industry, controlled by a handful of private companies.

Much of Ireland’s exported textile waste first goes to Northern Ireland, which then re-exports it to the Global South. Among the top destinations from the UK are the United Arab Emirates, Ghana, and Pakistan.

The Case of Ghana: A Well-Documented Crisis

Ghana is the third-largest receiver of Irish textile exports (second of UK’s) and thanks to years of research by The Or Foundation, we have a clear picture of what happens to this waste, making it a key case study in understanding the devastating impact of second-hand clothing exports. Their work in Accra’s Kantamanto Market, one of the world's largest second-hand clothing markets, has revealed how imported textile waste fuels debt cycles, environmental destruction, and public health crises. What happens in Ghana is not an isolated case—it is a symptom of a broken global fashion system, where the Global North offloads its waste onto communities that lack the infrastructure to manage it.

The Human and Economic Cost of Textile Waste in Receiving Countries

An unjust system trapping independent workers into debts.

In Ghana alone, over 150 million kilograms of second-hand clothing are imported annually, with an estimated 15 million items arriving each week. Contrary to common belief these clothes do not arrive as donations, but as bulk bales purchased by local retailers, many of whom are trapped in a relentless cycle of debt, poverty, and severe health consequences.

Retailers in Ghana’s Kantamanto Market, one of the world’s largest second-hand clothing markets, buy these bales without knowing what’s inside. Before even opening them, they face high costs: purchasing the goods, transporting them—often on the backs of young women —paying for stall rentals, electricity, and sanitation. By the time they begin selling, they are already in debt, typically owing $1.58 per garment. But with an average of 40% of unsellable items, many barely make enough to return the next day. With no surplus to invest in repair, upcycling, or even proper merchandising any unsold item quickly becomes waste, further straining workers’ livelihoods and the local economy.  

Severe and Irreversible Health Impacts on Workers

For many market workers, survival in the second-hand clothing trade comes at the cost of irreversible damage to their health. A striking example is the health issues endured by the young women who sell their services to transport these heavy bales—weighing up to 55kg—on their heads. Years of carrying this extreme weight lead to permanent spinal degeneration, bone fusion, vertebral fractures, and severe misalignment, as documented in X-rays showing visible damage to the growth plates of young workers.

They are not the only ones suffering from the trade of textile waste. As mentioned above, many clothing items are damage beyond repair and unsellable from the get-go. These are usually sold at a loss and are used as fuel, as The Or Foundation reports on their Dead White Men’s clothes documentary, showing a man cook from a fire fuelled by old clothes and then sell the food. By inhaling and ingesting particles of burning plastic, people working or living in the community are putting themselves at risk for chronic respiratory illnesses, lung damage, and long-term health complications. Caught in a loop of subsistence debt, poor health, and harsh living conditions, many workers find themselves unable to escape the cycle of poverty.  

Recent testing by the Centre for Environmental Justice and Development (CEJAD) revealed alarming levels of toxic chemicals in second-hand clothing imported into Kenya from Europe. Many of these garments, made from synthetic, fossil fuel-based materials, contained PFAS—commonly known as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment and the human body. Some samples exceeded the EU’s safety threshold of 25 ppb, while others contained PFOS, a globally banned PFAS substitute. Highest contamination is found in clothes that are treated for water or stain resistance like workout or outdoor clothes.

These findings—though not surprising—highlight how workers and wearers, including us as the original consumers, are routinely exposed to hazardous chemicals with no accountability from producers. The health and environmental risks are undeniable yet largely ignored. This isn’t just their burden; it’s a reality we all face. Their struggle should serve as a wake-up call, pushing us to rethink our consumption habits and acknowledge our own exposure to microplastics and toxic chemicals.

The Crushing Financial Burden on Municipalities

The consequences of this textile waste extend far beyond individual workers. With 40% of the garments in each imported bale ending up as waste, Ghana’s municipalities are forced to take on a problem they did not create. Accra alone spends $500,000 annually just to collect and dispose of discarded second-hand clothing, yet even on the best days, only 70% of the waste is "managed" (landfilled). The rest ends up in urban dumpsites surrounding habitations and beaches, without environmental protections, leading to soil and water contamination.

The crisis reached a breaking point in 2019 when Accra’s only sanitary landfill collapsed under the sheer weight of textile waste. Now, the government faces an impossible decision—constructing a new landfill at an estimated cost of $250 million, a sum that threatens to divert critical funding from essential services like healthcare and education – or leave additional illegal and wild dumpsites develop across the city, most likely next to the poorest areas.

Governments Are No Longer Equipped to Handle the Growing Crisis

The scale of this waste problem goes even beyond what local governments can manage. Many receiving countries, already struggling with infrastructure and public service funding, are now being forced to divert resources from housing, sanitation, education, and healthcare just to deal with fashion waste from the Global North.

A simple ban won’t solve anything.

Uganda attempted to ban second-hand clothing imports in August 2023—not for environmental reasons, but to boost local industry. However, the ban has been largely ignored by the second-hand market, where importers continue to profit. For many workers trapped in cycles of debt, this trade remains their only source of income. Without an appropriate support to alternative solutions from the government, this ban is simply seen as a direct threat to their livelihoods rather than a step forward. As a result, enforcement has been weak, and the trade persists.

A global injustice.

This is not just a local issue—it is a global failure of responsibility, where wealthy nations offload their waste onto communities that lack the means to handle it safely. The financial, environmental, and human costs are devastating, pushing cities like Accra into an escalating waste crisis that they did not create and can no longer afford to manage.

Turning Crisis into Innovation: African fashion leading the change

In the face of overwhelming textile waste, African designers and social enterprises have turned upcycling into a necessity rather than a trend—a way to survive and reclaim control over the narrative of second-hand fashion. Across Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and beyond, changemakers are rethinking waste by transforming discarded textiles into new, valuable creations.

In Kenya, Africa Collect Textiles (ACT) employs women in Nairobi to repurpose fashion waste into new products, creating economic opportunities while tackling textile pollution.  

Similarly, in Uganda, the brand Buzigahill introduced a bold model with its “Return to Sender” collections—releasing four drops a year made entirely from upcycled garments. These collections are labour-intensive, involving meticulous cleaning, deconstructing, and reworking discarded items to create high-quality, desirable fashion. This simple concept designates the problem clearly while offering a concrete example of creative solutions that also challenges the current production and business models of the fashion industry.

In Ghana’s Kantamanto Market, local efforts like The Revival are leading the way in circular fashion. This initiative rescues second-hand clothes labelled as waste, employing local artisans, fashion students, and community members to create new garments and artworks. The Revival highlights the creativity and resilience of those working within a broken system—yet this system remains fragile.

Remaining struggles

The devastating January 2025 fire in Kantamanto was a stark reminder of the market’s vulnerability. Overcrowding, unsafe conditions, and a lack of infrastructure left 30,000 traders, artisans, and workers suddenly without income. The images of charred stalls and bare ground are not just a local tragedy—they are a global reckoning, exposing the stark inequalities of the second-hand fashion trade. Kantamanto’s traders, despite their resilience, cannot rebuild alone. They are now raising funds to restore their market, but the responsibility cannot fall solely on them. The fashion industry, which profits from this system, must be held accountable.

The Burden Must Shift

These African-led initiatives demonstrate the power of innovation and circularity, but they also highlight the urgency of systemic change. Upcycling and reuse are powerful solutions, but they are not enough to counteract the flood of fast fashion waste pouring into the Global South. The burden must shift back to the producers and policymakers of the Global North—to those who are fuelling this crisis in the first place.

The burden of textile waste should not fall on the Global South. Ireland, as one of the most wasteful countries per capita, must take responsibility for its role in this system. We need real solutions—ones that prioritize transparency, extended producer responsibility, and true circularity, rather than outsourcing our waste under the guise of reuse or recycling.

Read and support our Threads of Transparency campaign to understand the realities of Ireland’s textile waste and what must change. As legislation is being discussed, we are advocating for these issues to be taken into account. Follow us to stay informed and take action—because a just and sustainable fashion system starts with accountability.

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