The environment of Ghana is being threatened with used clothing products that come to the country from the West. 15 million second-hand clothing items are delivered to the African country, 40 percent of which is so trashy that it will go to landfills or be dumped in water.
Kantamanto market in Accra, where traders pick up through a mass of low-quality clothing items, is the major marketplace for second-hand clothes imported from the West.
The old clothing supplies nowadays revolve more around fast fashion pieces, which become ragged within a couple of weeks, disrupting the business.
Put forward by donors of the western countries, the majority of the used clothing stuff is becoming a menace to the country’s environment.
Ghana Water and Sanitation Journalists Network (GWJN) tries to inform people about the environmental disaster, caused by accumulation of imported low-quality clothing.
This is while recycling some used clothing items is so demanding; that’s why the government should supervise the import of second-hand clothes.
Some African countries have already taken steps to stop imports of low-quality used clothes. In 2018, Rwanda, among others, prohibited the importation of used clothing to allow the country to focus on the national textile industry.
Likewise, Kenya proposed a ban to stop used clothes import after the pandemic in 2020. Yet, it didn’t last long and the ban was canceled due to the negative effect on the families economic status.
Perhaps imposing a ban on such items would have the same impact on the people involved in the business in Ghana.
With the proactive government, it seems unlikely to end imports of used clothes, which endanger the environment.