According to the Mitumba Cooperative Association of Kenya (MCAK) more than 95% of imported second-hand clothing is not waste, but operators face punitive taxes and threatening regulations their decades of sustainable practices.
MCAK president Teresia Wairimu Njenga says 2024 has marked the “most successful and global advocacy campaign ever” but calls on global reuse and recyclers to come together against the big challenges which is before us.
Over 2024, chairman Njenga traveled throughout the EU, to the UK, Ghana, and the USA, making representations on behalf of the trade. Njenja said that each meeting revealed the same thing from fabric collectors, sorters, upcyclers and recyclers: that they have additional costs and management, threatening their financial viability and competitiveness against fast fashion. The EU is currently leading the way in designing policies that affect international supply chains, setting a precedent that will be followed around the world. These policies will ultimately affect livelihoods in the global south, including in Kenya with 2m traders and 6.2m households who buy second-hand clothes regularly and must be driven by rigorous research and data.
MCAK, together with international partners, has sponsored or supported many academic studies from Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda which conclude that less than 5% of textile imports second-hand as waste, dismissing the widely cited but flawed 40% import waste figure.
MCAK reiterates its call for policymakers to use robust data and research to guide their decisions rather than relying on poorly researched and inaccurate campaign and advocacy materials.
Such misinformation, which misjudges the introduction of second-hand clothing as the main driver of waste management failures, has been a real detriment to the second-hand trade.
MCAK and others continue to call on policy makers to focus policy solutions and investment on the broader issues of local waste management and recycling and the overproduction of fast fashion globally.
Njenga said: “Second-hand clothes are part of the solution to the overproduction of clothes, not the problem – they are examples of the circular economy and are vital to Kenya and other countries like Ghana. Studies show that more than 95% of imported second-hand clothing is not waste, but operators are facing punitive taxes and regulations that threaten their decades of sustainable practices.
“Policymakers need to support reuse, collection, sorting, recycling and recycling, targeting new clothing producers instead of circular economy operators, especially with the EU's mandatory clothing collection ' start in 2025. the fall of this trade: fast fashion.
