A recent Auckland study estimated that about 80% of the clothes op shops receive cannot be sold. Reports from the operators confirm this. The bulk of this material is going up, while the quality is going down. The culprit? Our newfound passion for fast fashion.
We currently import about NZ$2 billion worth of “fashion apparel” every year. The current slowdown has put the brakes on our post-pandemic shopping splurge to some extent. But that’s still about 70,000 tonnes, about one medium-sized suitcase full per person every 12 months.
The bulk of it comes from overseas online shopping sites. Or it’s sold here via big box bargain stores and ‘fast fashion’ retailers. They mostly source it from similar places overseas. Only around 18,000 tonnes of clothing is made in Aotearoa New Zealand each year. Nearly 3,000 tonnes of that is exported, while the rest stays here.
Community recycling projects
Local community recycling projects are doing all they can to deal with these clothes once we’re done with them. Some repair, wash and dry clothes that can then make it to their shelves. They pick out fabrics like denim, which are sought after by people who sew.
Jorden Lahood-Timu, from Xtreme Zero Waste in Raglan, said: “We’re flooded with jeans a lot lately! When it comes to the fast fashion stuff it’s like: ‘You don’t want it. We don’t want it. Landfill doesn’t want it. Let’s all stop.”
The team has banned products from online ‘fast fashion’ retailer Shein from their store. It’s an attempt to stem the flow and raise awareness about the accompanying problems. They’ve even been receiving unworn or unopened clothing. Online shoppers either forget to return them, or consider it too time-consuming and costly to do so.
Carla van Walen is Operations Manager for Localised. Localised runs three waste processing enterprises. Two are in Auckland, the other in Whangaparāoa.
“Like everybody else, we’re drowning in clothes and donated textiles,” she says. “We try to make people take responsibility for clothing waste. If someone comes in with a black bin bag full of clothing and we can't see what's in it, we won't take it. We're trying to change landfill rates by encouraging people to reduce, repair and upcycle.”
Localised sends polycottons and wool to Textile Products in Onehunga to be made into blankets. Rags go to local tradies. Some clothes are passed on via social workers to families in need.
Others are turning to innovation. A Northland-based partnership is turning unwanted textiles into mattresses. Wellington-based Usedfully is extracting materials from unwanted textiles for asphalt and pavements.
But the tide of unwanted clothing keeps rising.
It's a global problem
We might think sending unwanted clothes overseas is a nice charitable gesture. But much of this material is just sold in bulk by weight. These are the leftovers once second-hand sellers, both here and in the receiving country, have had their pick. Places like Ghana and Chile are getting way more than they can possibly process. The result is mountains of waste clothing. They're picked over by some of the world’s poorest people. Huge quantities are burnt in the open or buried. Much of the material is plastic. The resulting toxic pollution has obvious wider implications on human and environmental health.
This whole unsustainable system is helping to fuel climate change. The plastics in the clothing come from oil. Their production helps to keep the global fossil fuel trade going. All the production, packaging and shipping needs energy. Most of it comes from fossil fuels. And a lot of clothing is coming a long way to reach our shores.
Critics warn the industry’s approach wastes billions of dollars’ worth of resources. It’s creating a major, worldwide pollution problem.
What’s happening here?
In Aotearoa New Zealand, the issue is uniting concerned companies and groups. They’re calling on Kiwis to reduce the new clothing we buy, especially from offshore fast-fashion outlets.
Sarah Lancaster, from Zero Waste Aotearoa (ZWA), says: “It’s partly about keeping a better track on what we already own. Being more discerning about what we buy. Steering away from these low-quality items, which are increasingly wrongly considered ‘disposable’.”
“It’s much more satisfying to own fewer, more hardwearing and quality items, rather than a chaotic floordrobe of rubbish. Especially if we’re able to buy clothes from local makers who are part of our community.”
“We’re also encouraging more reuse of clothing through repair, reshaping, swapping and gifting. This can unlock your creativity and the social aspects of clothes sharing. That’s way more fulfilling than the quick hit of an online click.”
It’s a movement that’s growing. There are now more than 80 ‘Repair Cafés’ dotted around the country. These enable people to learn to care for their own clothes. They can also get involved with other community recycling efforts. But ZWA is pushing for businesses and government to make significant changes too.
Sarah says: “The clothing industry must step up. It must take more responsibility for its products. They can improve the designs and have slower product cycles. They can start their own repair and recycling schemes."
There are technical challenges too. Aotearoa New Zealand may prove too small for recycling clothing back into clothing to be economically viable here. Production costs in a country like ours are relatively high. We still enjoy relatively high living standards. We have relatively high levels of industrial regulation. That tends to put Kiwi clothing at a premium.
As Sarah points out: “Shoppers choosing less wasteful, more ethical clothing makers can help incentivise them. But not everyone has that kind of time or money. In a tough economy, it’s hard to resist convenient and cheap clothes, but shopping second hand is a sustainable and affordable option.”
The French solution
Last year the French Government responded with legislation. This places a €5 ‘eco-tax’ per item plus additional taxes on light packages from outside the European Union. It bans advertising for what’s defined as “ultra-fast fashion”. This is backed with the threat of fines of up to €100,000 (nearly $200,000). It introduced mandatory environmental transparency. This includes an ‘eco-score’ displayed next to the product price.
It may be that such changes are needed here. In the meantime, the results of our snap decisions are costing a lot of time and money to deal with.