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analog_stuff t1_iud4s0q wrote

I used to work for a company that owns those white textile bins at schools/town recycling centers, only like 54% of the stuff actually ever gets recycled by companies like those, the rest of it gets resold to markets in Africa, where it ends up in landfills when it doesn’t all get bought

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NativeMasshole t1_iud5kzr wrote

It's always been crazy to me that it can be profitable to ship stuff thousands of miles when it's already essentially worthless here.

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analog_stuff t1_iud667j wrote

Theres huge clothing markets over there, stall owners buy recycled textiles by the bale

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SGI256 t1_iuf89sn wrote

I watched a video where they were interviewing the people that buy bales. There is a ton of stuff they dont want. The stuff they dont want should not be shipped across the ocean. There are categories of things that should not be shipped because it is almost guaranteed it will be thrown away.

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Maddcapp t1_iuds6cm wrote

The financial strategy is crazy with textiles. Like before the Super Bowl they print up shirts for both teams winning and just trash the losers merchandise. And still make a killing. Just to capture the excitement of people going right online to buy their teams shirts right away.

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NativeMasshole t1_iudtg7o wrote

Good point! Which I guess is the type of wasteful behavior they're trying to target here.

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pfmiller0 t1_iudqmgw wrote

Think of all the dirt cheap Chinese made novelties you can buy. In large enough quantities almost anything can be affordable to ship.

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duckbigtrain t1_iudbysv wrote

Most of the stuff sent to Africa does get bought though, right? imo that’s better than recycling, it’s reusing.

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Andromeda321 t1_iudge2m wrote

I saw a documentary about it and the answer is definitely no. Africa has so many secondhand clothes sent there the buyers are quite discerning and won’t wear rags any more than you would.

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analog_stuff t1_iudceuk wrote

The people buying the bales are basically gambling on whether or not they get clothes with resale/use value or bales of oily rags and soiled sheets. When people buy these bales they just toss out anything they can’t sell

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ahecht t1_iufc3jk wrote

At least it's not the yellow Planet Aid ones where all the money goes to fund a Danish cult.

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