Comments
phiwong t1_ja0i6j6 wrote
Frankly, doesn't even sound like much. If we assumed 1kg per clothing article made of plastic, that amounts to 37,000 tons per year. Even in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that waste produced is approximately 1kg per person per day for a total of 60 MILLION tons per year.
It isn't good to send unusable trash to Africa but this hardly scratches the surface percentage wise and that assumes that non of these plastic articles of clothing are usable which is rather unlikely.
Of course the other odd thing is that clothes with some polyester, rayon etc are normal so labelling them as "plastic" is kind of misleading at best. (it is likely that any clothes with elastic band will contain some form of rubberized plastic materials, for example)
stap31 t1_ja0lt9t wrote
I'm pro labelling mix with polyester as plastic trash. Elastan as from rubber band is pretty inevitable
nariusone t1_ja0fpye wrote
"second-hand clothing"? Is that the official term for "trash"?
chrysostomos_1 t1_ja0h7jw wrote
No it means second hand wearable clothing for people who are very poor by European standards.
suitcaseismyhome t1_ja0hka5 wrote
And it means significant impact on the local textile and sewing industry. The majority is burned, creating other hazards.
> Every day in Kenya, about 150 to 200 tonnes of textile waste – between 60 to 75 truckloads – ends up being dumped, burnt, or sent to overflowing dump sites.
chrysostomos_1 t1_ja0p857 wrote
Significant positive impact on the local clothing industry. Read an article a couple years ago in the New Yorker. The clothes aren't just sold. They are disassembled and reassembled in new shapes and patterns and the industry employs thousands of people locally.
Heineken008 t1_ja1kl4v wrote
The Mitumba industry is at the very least highly controversial. Yes it does employ thousands of people but there is an enormous amount of waste in unusable clothing and it also prevents there from being much local production of textiles.
chrysostomos_1 t1_ja1v049 wrote
Not controversial at all if you believe in an integrated world economy. If the African textile industry were healthy it would supply materials that manufacturers would use rather than using second hand textiles. The national authorities could ban second hand materials but then the industry would go dark and the workers would suffer. Less clothing would be produced from recycled materials, prices would go up and the locals would be that much worse off. That's how I read it at least.
Heineken008 t1_ja42z3q wrote
Some countries like Rwanda have banned the practice. Kenya which is the main hub for East Africa is considering banning it, in fact Raila Odinga campaigned on it.
chrysostomos_1 t1_ja4aelt wrote
Beware of unintended consequences. My guess is that the local recycle industry which employs thousands of local people will be replaced by low cost imports from Bangladesh and Vietnam. If high import duties are enacted to support local clothing manufacturers then costs go up to the locals and benefits go up to smugglers and corrupt border officials.
Dry-Peach-6327 t1_ja0fzjc wrote
I learned from Anthony bourdain that this isn’t a good thing