Global Action Against Incinerator Alliance, GAIA Africa, is seeking a ban on importation of unmanageable second-hand clothing that cannot be reused, repurposed, or recycled in Africa.
Carissa Marnce, Africa Communications Coordinator for GAIA Africa, while marking the 2025 Zero Waste Day in Lagos, said that textile wastes were severely impacting African communities.
The Alliance noted that the fashion industry generates 92 million tonnes of textile waste annually, much of which ends up in the Global South. For example, Kantamant Market in Ghana has become a hub for second-hand clothing, where approximately 15 million items are imported each year, commonly referred to as “Obroni Wawu” or “dead white man’s clothes.”
“Unfortunately, most of these garments are of such inferior quality that they are discarded immediately.
“These wastes fill landfills, clogs waterways, and pollute the environment, all while undermining local textile industries and sustainable economies,” the statement said.
It said that the 2025 theme, “Towards Zero Waste in Fashion and Textiles,” highlighted the hidden reality of the global fashion industry, which produced excessive waste that often contaminates African nations.
The alliance urged fashion brands to take responsibility for the waste they generated, ensuring sustainable end-of-life solutions for textiles.
It called for investment in local textile industries to support African textile production through policies that promoted quality, sustainability, and circular economies.
The organisation also encouraged consumers worldwide to move away from fast fashion and adopt sustainable clothing choices.
GAIA Africa urged African governments, policymakers, and citizens to reject the waste colonialism that threatened Africa’s environment and to build a fashion industry that respected both people and the planet.
Desmond Alugnoa, Ghana, GAIA Africa’s Programme Manager for the Zero Waste and Climate Programme, said that Africa could not become a dumping ground for fast fashion’s waste.
According to him, this is not charity; this is waste colonialism. We refuse to be the world’s landfill.
“We demand urgent policies that stop the export of unmanageable textile waste to Africa and hold corporations accountable for the full lifecycle of their products.”
The statement also quoted Jacob Johnson Attakpah, Ghana, Green Africa Youth Organisation Project Manager for Zero Waste Cities Programme, as saying:
“Africa refuses to be at the receiving end of textile waste, especially from the west because our systems cannot manage them, but even if they could, it is unconscionable to produce waste that you cannot manage.
“The fashion industry must embrace circular design, responsible sourcing, and innovative recycling to move towards true zero waste.
“On this International Day of Zero Waste, we must advance systemic change that prioritises sustainability over fast fashion’s disposable culture.”
The statement also quoted Nirere Sadrach, Uganda, End Plastic Pollution Founder and Team Leader, as saying:
“The influx of second hand and used clothes which are being imported in copious amounts is partly responsible for the textile waste crisis.
“Those trading in these second hand and used clothes are claiming that they are “cheap” and affordable to all.
“However, they ignore the huge cost coming with the waste they generate since these textiles are used for a short time and then dumped.”
Sadrach stated that certain countries in the Global North are engaging in waste colonialism by utilizing the used textile trade to export their waste to less affluent nations.
“Also, the companies producing these items in richer countries for first time use are also pretending to be unaware of the harm they are causing.
“And they seem to be far from taking responsibility to address the waste problem they are causing when their products are consumed as second hands in poorer countries”, he argued.
NAN
