They place geolocators on donated clothing to show that most are not reused

Much of the donated clothing does not have “a second life”according to the environmental organization Greenpeacewhich to demonstrate this has placed geolocators on 29 garments deposited in municipal containers and in grocery stores. Zara and Mango, who have already traveled or will travel thousands of kilometers with an uncertain future.

Thus, after four months of monitoring, only the reuse of one of the garments could be confirmed, which was purchased in a second-hand store in Romania, according to Greenpeace, which, coinciding with the celebration of Black Friday, in which brands They encourage massive purchases with aggressive discounts, seeking to denounce the problem of the overproduction of clothing and footwear.

Of the rest of the clothes, some continue to move and it seems that they have not reached their final destination even though they have already traveled thousands of kilometers, to places like Chile, Pakistan, India or Togo; and others are in warehouses in industrial estates in Spain or, simply, “they still don’t give a signal”.

Monitoring from 11 provinces

The location devices were placed in July and August on garments (clothing and footwear) suitable for a second life, which were subsequently deposited in containers in 11 Spanish provinces located both on public roads and in Zara and Mango stores, chains that collaborate with organizations like Caritas.

The first big surprise was “discovering” that in both cases the management entities are the same, according to Greenpeace, which noted that they have located garments from the two systems in the United Arab Emirates, which, along with Pakistan, has international reception centers. of clothing located in free zones to facilitate their re-export.

Other garments have been located in Africa, specifically in Egypt, Togo and Morocco, the environmental organization has noted. According to the European Environment Agency, the 46% of used textiles exported from the European Union ends up in an African country, where the 60% is resold and the 40% The remainder is discarded, often directly into the environment.

Around half of the marked garments have not yet left Spain, although they have changed location one or more times, according to Greenpeace, which explained that this is because four months are insufficient to fully track them to the final destination. of each article, which can be followed on the environmental organization’s website.

During the development of the work, according to the same source, they also detected the existence of a “irregular circuit” management of textile waste that escapes the management authorized by the town councils, which have the responsibility for the selective collection of waste.

We have to change the system

The research highlights the need to radically change the clothing production and consumption model and avoid falling into false solutions or patches that delay this change, Greenpeace defended in a statement.

The effective management of used clothing so that it does not represent a growing environmental and social problem, to which clothing brands will be obliged from 2025, has to be accompanied by a drastic reduction in production, an increase in durability and quality of the garments, he warned.

Mango and Inditex (Zara) point out

After the publication of the report, Mango and Inditex explained that they have containers in their stores so that users can deposit their garments in them in collaboration with non-profit entities, which are the ones that classify them for reuse, recycling or cogeneration. electrical depending on its condition.

Mostly, the textile waste deposited in the containers is destined for reuse, with a small part remaining in Spain for second-hand sale and the rest being exported. “before always being classified for reuse or recyclingas will be established by the future European regulation that will not allow the export of unclassified textile waste“, they explained from Mango.

From Inditex, the group to which Zara belongs, they pointed out that the agreements with these entities include the express prohibition of diverting clothing to landfills and certain export markets due to the risk of generating negative impacts on those communities.

“More than 60% of the total garments are reused, either through donations to people in need or resold to finance social projects”, they assured from the largest textile group in the world.