Fashion and Growing Consumerism Wear 26 Million Tons of Textile Waste a Year in the World

Santiago, January 6, 2022, Thursday

The use of textiles is increasing in the world due to the growing fashion, consumerism and new clothing designs. Clothing is disposed of faster than ever before and so is textile waste. According to a UN report, the fashion industry contributes 10% to the world's carbon emissions. Which is even more than the energy used in the shipping and aviation industry. Every second in the world, a truckload of clothing waste is dumped in the landfill. Wool fabrics are widely produced in China and Bangladesh.

Clothes that are not used or have become obsolete without being sold come to Chile from Europe, Asia and America. The garments are recycled and resold in Latin America. It is estimated that 25 million tons of textile waste is generated every year. According to a 2015 report, global textile production has doubled in the last 15 years. According to the report, 40% of the world's water is used for textiles.

A growing pile of clothing spreads air and ground level pollution. There are also some garments that do not rot naturally due to the presence of a chemical element. That is why even in a landfill, when there is a ducha of clothes, the pile of garbage grows rapidly. Ecologically appropriate disposal of clothing has become essential. Sometimes it can take up to 100 years for a garment to rot.

The Hospice port of Iquique, Chile, unloads bundles of old clothes. The port has become a market for waste clothing from around the world. Traders travel a distance of 1500 to 3000 km to buy wholesale clothes. USA in the world. Germany and Britain are the exporters of second-hand clothes, while Italy is one of the top 10 exporters of junior junk.

In the last five years, 1.5 million tons of old clothes have been produced in Italy. Pakistan, India and Malaysia are the leading buyers of old clothes. Every year, 5,000 tons of clothing arrives in Chile, of which 30,000 tons become waste in the Atacama Desert. Clothing merchants in the capital, Santiago, buy some clothes while most of the waste is dumped in the desert, making the site the world's largest old pile of old clothes. The poor people of the desert area come and look for clothes of their own size from the huge pile of clothes.