UK brands found among textile waste dumped in protected Ghana wetlands

Clothes discarded by UK consumers and shipped to Ghana have been found in a huge rubbish dump in protected wetlands, an investigation has found.

- Lucy Jordan Mike Anane

Reporters for Unearthed working with Greenpeace Africa found garments from Next in the dump and at other sites, as well as items from George at Asda and Marks & Spencer washed up nearby.

The dumps are in an internationally recognised wetland that is home to three species of sea turtle. People say their fishing nets, waterways and beaches are being clogged with synthetic fast-fashion garments exported to Ghana from the UK and Europe.

At another dump on the banks of the river leading to the conservation site, Unearthed reporters found garments from M&S, Zara, H&M and Primark.

The fashion labels acknowledged the industry faced challenges in processing textile waste. M&S, George and Primark said they ran take-back schemes intended to help address the issue. H&M, Zara and George said they would support an extended producer responsibility (EPR) framework to hold labels accountable for the end-of-life impact of their products.

The global fast-fashion overspill has overwhelmed Ghana's capital, Accra, with tangled clothes carpeting city beaches and lining canals.

The investigation found new dump sites proliferating beyond urban areas and in conservation areas that are vital for wildlife. Textile waste, including UK labels, was found tangled in vegetation, half-buried in sand, and in waste washed up at a beach resort where a manager said he burned piles of clothes every week.

At the heart of Ghana's used clothing trade is Kantamanto, one of the world's biggest second-hand clothes markets. It receives more than 1,000 tonnes of clothes every week, but traders said the quality had declined.

"In the past, we had good clothes to sell to take care of our families, but these days the used clothes we find in the bales are not fit for resale," said Mercy Asantewa, a retailer at the market. "They are poorly made and are already falling apart when we open the bales."