Huge piles of discarded clothing have turned the Chilean Atacama desert into a real landfill, a cemetery that does not stop growing due to the continuous dripping of garments that are discarded by low cost fashion multinationals.
According to a report by the AFP agency, the huge pile of clothes is made up of garments made in China and Bangladesh that reach stores in the US, Europe and Asia. When the garments are not purchased, they are taken to the port of Iquique in Chile to be resold to other Latin American countries.
AFP found that around 59,000 tons of clothing end up in the port of Chile each year. Of these, at least 39,000 tons go to landfills in the desert.
Alex Carreño, a former employee of the import section of the port of Iquique, revealed to this agency that the clothes “come from all over the world” and added that most of the clothes are discarded later when shipments cannot be resold in Latin America.
The clothes that are taken to this natural setting for disposal now covers a huge strip of sand in the Atacama Desert in Alto Hospicio, Chile.
Fast fashion, yet affordable, it is extremely harmful to the environment: Each of these garments can take up to 200 years to disintegrate.
Textile production It is the second most polluting industry on the planet, only behind fossil energy. This sector is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, the equivalent of all that is produced by international flights and maritime transport together.
In the European Union alone, the purchase of textiles generates around 654 kilos of CO2 emissions per person and, in addition, this industry, as a result of dyes and finishing products, it is responsible for 20% of the world’s drinking water pollution.
The other big problem is recycling. In Spain, only slightly more than 12% of the almost million tons of textiles discarded per year is recycled. Starting in January, the sector will be obliged by law to destroy fabrics and manage textile waste.
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
