Couple of years ago, investigative journalism program (MOT from Finland / link to an article in Finnish) sew trackers into some clothes and donated them to three different clothes banks that all promised, that the clothes will be recycled inside of EU and won’t end up in landfills in Africa. (To add, not all the clothes end up in landfills and some do get resold in the African countries but those actually just ruin the local economies by leaving the dressmakers/sewers unemployed which destroys local culture by erasing traditional clothing…)
And yes, eventually, ALL clothes ended up in Africa. The conclusion is, that in Finland, it is more ethical and environmentally friendly to burn the clothes in closed waste recycling plants than to “donate” them to charities. There is just too much garment waste.
So no, I’m not surprised. I would be surprised if this system worked somewhere.
Couple of years ago, investigative journalism program (MOT from Finland / link to an article in Finnish) sew trackers into some clothes and donated them to three different clothes banks that all promised, that the clothes will be recycled inside of EU and won’t end up in landfills in Africa. (To add, not all the clothes end up in landfills and some do get resold in the African countries but those actually just ruin the local economies by leaving the dressmakers/sewers unemployed which destroys local culture by erasing traditional clothing…)
And yes, eventually, ALL clothes ended up in Africa. The conclusion is, that in Finland, it is more ethical and environmentally friendly to burn the clothes in closed waste recycling plants than to “donate” them to charities. There is just too much garment waste.
So no, I’m not surprised. I would be surprised if this system worked somewhere.
The documentary should be viewable outside of Finland with English subtitles https://areena.yle.fi/1-50278158
Wow, I didn’t know at all about that possibility. Thank you for adding in!