The clothes industry, according to The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is responsible for eight per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions which has a direct impact on the global climate crisis that the world is grappling with.
At least $460 billion worth of usable clothes are disposed every year. Janet Chemitei from Greenpeace, an environmental group, argues that wealthier countries are using countries like Kenya as waste disposal grounds for rubbish they can’t recycle in their countries.
“The fabrics that they use to produce these clothes are synthetic fibers and these synthetic fibers are produced from fossil fuels which is also harming the environment in the long run and also the people who make these clothes and us who wear them so we really want brands to be accountable and to stop producing fast fashion,” she says.
In a report titled “Poisoned Gifts”, Greenpeace notes that second-hand clothes are little more than textile waste and the imports threaten locally made products and textile industries. The organisation observes that approximately 30 to 40 per cent of the imports, which is about 74,000 tonnes, ends up being disposed.
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A report seen by The Kenya Times from a think tank within the Council on Foreign Relations indicates that the United States signed a predatory trade deal called African Growth and Opportunities Act that allows it to export second-hand clothes to Africa.
Second-hand clothes dealers in Gikomba confirm that a significant amount of what they receive from the outside the country is of poor quality hence end up as disposables.
One of the key manufacturing agenda of President William Ruto’s government is to strengthen local market by encouraging domestic production. He promised, during the campaign, not to “interfere” with the second-hand clothes industry.
