A study tracking 200 discarded garments from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden has mapped their recorded journeys across 23 countries, while highlighting how little is known about what happens to many items after export. Researchers from Eunomia Research & Consulting and Mepex used tracking devices, trade data and interviews to examine the international secondhand textile supply chain over six months.
The last recorded location for 71 percent of the garments was in Europe. Poland accounted for 30 percent of the sample, Slovakia for 18 percent and Pakistan for 14 percent. Overall, 66 percent were last recorded in the European Union or European Economic Area. The remaining items were recorded outside those markets, including in Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.
These destinations do not necessarily show where garments were ultimately sold, reused, recycled or discarded. Some tracking ended before items completed their journeys, and the devices could not establish what happened to them after their last recorded location. The researchers also said traditional trade data generally captures an initial export destination, not later shipments or processing.
Nordic collectors often send unsorted textiles abroad because of high domestic labor costs. Sorting hubs in countries including Poland, Lithuania, Germany, Slovakia and Bulgaria grade the clothing and direct it toward reuse, repair, recycling or other processing. Items can then pass through further wholesalers and markets before reaching consumers or treatment facilities.
The study recorded four garments reaching secondhand markets in Nigeria via Benin, even though Nigeria prohibits used-clothing imports. The researchers cited the route as an example of how intermediary countries complicate tracing. They did not, however, document illegal dumping, uncontrolled burning or environmental leakage at the African or Asian destinations.
The findings also showed a difference by garment quality: 56 percent of Grade D items, the lowest category, were last recorded outside Europe, compared with 24 percent of Grade A, 17 percent of Grade B and 33 percent of Grade C garments. The researchers noted that destination choices can also depend on season, style, local preferences and trading relationships. For instance, Nordic winter clothing may be harder to sell in warmer markets, regardless of its condition.
Industry stakeholders interviewed for the report described growing quantities of low-cost, damaged, contaminated and otherwise difficult-to-resell clothing entering collection systems. The researchers said this could put pressure on systems as European rules require more textiles to be collected separately from household waste.
The report recommends clearer textile-quality classifications, greater accountability for lower-grade exports and minimum standards for receiving facilities. It also calls for investment in Nordic sorting and recycling capacity, as well as support for secondhand markets, repair businesses and longer-lasting product design.
The study argues that collection alone does not ensure clothing stays in use: understanding the outcome requires better visibility into the sorting, trading and processing that follow export. Its findings are based on a six-month tracking exercise and do not establish the final outcome for every garment.
Sources: WWD.