How T-shirts donated to charity are causing pollution in Ghana

Consumer gives their T-shirt to charity but charity shops only sell up to 20% of donated clothes

Charity shops sell unsold donations to for-profit aggregators who package the clothes in bales for export

Ghana is the world’s largest importer of used clothing. Most ends up in Kantamanto in Accra, the world's largest second-hand clothes market

Traders pay on average between $120-200 a bale. They sell and what they can. About 40% of the average bale is waste.

100 tonnes of garments leave the market daily as waste. About 30% is collected by the city, the rest ends up in illegal dumps or ditches and drains

Textile waste flows into the Odaw river, Korle Lagoon and the sea and washes on to beaches, causing major environmental damage

Consumer gives their

T-shirt to charity

Charity shops only sell up to 20% of donated clothes

Unsold donations are sold to for-profit aggregators who package the clothes in bales for export

Ghana is the world’s largest importer of used clothing. Most ends up in Kantamanto in Accra, the world's largest second-hand clothes market

Traders pay on average between $120-200 a bale. They sell and upcycle what they can. About 40% of the average bale is waste.

100 tonnes of garments leave the market daily as waste. About 30% is collected by the city, the rest ends up in illegal dumps or ditches and drains

Textile waste flows into the Odaw river, Korle Lagoon and the sea and washes on to beaches, causing major environmental damage