"Height of Fashion? Clothes Mountains Build Up As Recycling Breaks Down"

"MADRID/NAIROBI - Clothes recycling is the pressure-release valve of fast fashion, and it’s breaking under COVID-19 curbs.

The multi-billion-dollar trade in second-hand clothing helps prevent the global fashion industry’s growing pile of waste going straight to landfill, while keeping wardrobes clear for next season’s designs. But it’s facing a crisis.

Exporters are struggling, as are traders and customers in often poorer nations from Africa to Eastern Europe and Latin America who rely on a steady supply of used clothes.

The signs are everywhere."

Sonya Dowsett and George Obulutsa report for Reuters September 30, 2020.