Business

Stores or organizations selling second-hand clothing have a big problem: fast fashion. The trend brings about low prices, often carried out through the Internet, with clothing accumulated in warehouses.

For humanitarian or climate change purposes, it has become a habit to drop off old clothes in drop off bins or warehouses in order for them to be sent to second-hand stores or charities. However, with the current scale of fast fashion, the quality of many clothes deposited in these places isn;t appropriate and there doesn't allow for their resale. On average, only a quarter of donations or deposits can be resold or redistributed! Thrift stores, second-hand shops and charities therefore find themselves with tons of unsaleable items of clothing, especially since quality pieces are sometimes resold by individuals on specialized sites or at flea markets, leaving only those that no one wants behind, stored in the boxes.

Buy smart

The poor quality of these low-end clothes makes them unsuitable for reuse. They must first be stored and sorted before being sent – ​​at best – for recycling or export. Some of them are also sent to incinerators, because they're unusable. The worst are polyester clothes. A second life is almost impossible for them. The sector is asking consumers to be more critical with their purchases. We must reject disposable fashion and prefer quality fabrics by buying new (and a little less). This is the only way to avoid the collapse of the second-hand market as well as the clothing donation sector for the most deprived, while being more eco-responsible.

(MH with Olivier Duquesne – Source: VRT Nws – Picture: © picture alliance / SULUPRESS.DE | Torsten Sukrow / SULUPRESS.DE)