The toxic price of textile waste

Every day, we discharge more and more clothes, transforming our closet into a poison to humans and the environment. According to the report “Fast Fashion Slow Poison: The Toxic Textile Crisis in Ghana”, published by Greenpeace Africa last September, “half a million items of clothing waste from Kantamanto Market end up in open spaces” every week*. Hence based on the knowledge that the average wardrobe contains 174 items of clothing**, one could conclude that approximately 2870 people throw their whole wardrobes into the open spaces of Ghana every week.

Buy more to throw more!

Since the explosive rise of fast fashion, the amount of clothes we consume has spun out of control. Influenced by the everchanging fast fashion trends, we justify the enormous number of clothes we buy weekly. Fast fashion allows us to consume more clothes for a cheaper price. But not only the prices decrease: over the past 20 years, the quality and the lifespan of the clothing we wear daily have significantly reduced. Therefore, fast fashion gives us a free pass not only to consume more clothes but also to throw more clothes away!

The sad fate of the clothes we throw away

After Tunisia, “Ghana is the second biggest final destination of European used clothes by volume”. Every day, the Kantamanto Market sells thousands of those clothes being imported. Kantamanto market is the largest second-hand market in Ghana and one of the largest in the world. Nearly half of the imported clothes are of poor quality and many are also made from synthetic fibers, including polyester, nylon, and acrylic, they have no resale value nor can be recycled. Such textiles then end up on informal dumpsites or get burned in public warehouses. The Greenpeace report studies the effects of the discharging of clothes on the people, communities, and businesses in Accra, Ghana.

The loss of air to breathe

The open burning of textiles in public washhouses pollutes the air so intensely, that it poses risks to the local communities and workers. Greenpeace researchers examined three public bathing establishments in Old Fadma, Accra. According to air samplings, the ambient air of the washhouses used to burn textiles is contaminated with numerous dangerous chemical substances such as Benzene which causes digestive and neurological disorders and irritates highly the skin***. This contamination of air far above European safety standards not only poses a high risk to the workers and customers in the washhouses but also to people living nearby as the open burning of textile waste is creating a “pervasive and permanent atmosphere of acrid smoke” around the washhouses.

Hidden lands under mountains of waste

Year after year, the constant dumping of clothes has changed Accra’s landscape, turning its once-beautiful sandy beaches into towering piles of waste. This not only ruins the city’s natural beauty but also causes severe environmental pollution. These expanding dumpsites release toxic liquids that seep into the soil, rivers, wetlands, and groundwater, contaminating nearby waterways. The Densu Delta Ramsar wetlands, located south of Weija, are increasingly affected by this pollution. This area is a critical breeding ground and a rich biodiverse habitat, but it is under threat. Rare and endangered species, such as birds and turtles, are struggling to survive, while the livelihoods of local communities are at risk, as many residents depend on oyster farming for their income.

The harmful decomposition of clothes

Not only do the dumpsites themselves smother the lands of Ghana, as most clothes consist of plastic, but microplastics make the dumpsites even more toxic. Greenpeace researchers conducted infrared tests at a dumpsite in Old Fadama and at another one in Weija to find out more about the materials in the clothes being dumped. The tests showed that 90% of the clothing waste consists of synthetic fibers, which will break into microplastics, polluting the soil, the water, and the air. Just through the washing of synthetic textiles, 0.5 million tons of microplastic fibers are released into the oceans every year, making the composition of clothes accountable for 35% of primary microplastics released globally. This pollution is also responsible for the contamination of the food web, posing global health challenges.

Ghanaians in between smoke, plastic, and dumps of waste

In conclusion, Europeans have to become aware of the responsibility we bear for this short-living system of exploitation. The burning of plastic clothes in washhouses exposes the workers to hazardous air pollution, mountains of waste pollute the environment by releasing leachate and microplastic fibers from degrading clothes taking away livelihoods as well as natural resources. Local communities in Ghana are exposed to severe risks as they have to take responsibility for the fast-living consumerism of the global north. The only solution to stop this cycle is for consumers to take action for Fair Fashion.

Fast fashion has become very popular, enabling consumers to buy more and cheaper clothes, making them forget the textile waste is slowly poisoning the planet.

Sources

* Greenpeace Africa: “Fast Fashion Slow Poison: The Toxic Textile Crisis in Ghana”, September 2024

** European Commission: “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions”, 30.03.2022

*** Audrey Millet “How toxic are the textiles we consume? And how can the EU trade tools tackle it?” January 2022