The hidden price of Uganda’s love for second-hand clothes

Uganda’s booming second-hand clothes market helps hundreds of livelihoods however generates large textile waste, with as much as 48 tonnes discarded day by day, most of it ending up in landfills.
Whereas casual waste collectors and tailors repurpose some textiles, the nation lacks structured recycling methods, exacerbating environmental challenges.
The Uganda Round Textiles Mission presents an answer by selling upcycling and a round textile economic system, which may create inexperienced jobs, cut back waste, and appeal to funding in sustainable trend.

In Uganda’s Owino market, one has to muscle their method as stalls overflow with piles of second-hand clothes, with merchants out-shouting one another to win bargain-hunters on the lookout for reasonably priced trend.

From stylish denims to branded jackets, the market presents an unlimited choice at costs that match just about each pocket. In the intervening time, Uganda is considered one of Africa’s largest importers of second-hand clothes, bringing in 80 million kilograms in 2023 alone, producing US$70.85 million in tax income.

This booming commerce helps roughly 50,000 merchants in Owino Market alone, creating livelihoods for hundreds extra in transport, tailoring, and retail.

Whereas second-hand clothes offers an financial lifeline and entry to high quality trend, its darker aspect is changing into more and more evident. A current examine by WasteAid, the Administration Coaching and Advisory Centre, and the Uganda Tailors Affiliation highlights how Uganda’s dependence on second-hand clothes is contributing to an enormous textile waste disaster.

The hidden prices of second-hand clothes

Though second-hand clothes is widely known for affordability and sustainability, Uganda’s market operates on a linear mannequin, which means that when clothes reaches the tip of its life cycle, there are few mechanisms for recycling or repurposing. In contrast to nations with structured round textile economies, Uganda’s second-hand clothes trade is but to develop formal waste administration methods for discarded textiles.

In accordance with the examine, textile waste accounts for as much as 3 per cent of Uganda’s complete waste, translating to an estimated 48 tonnes per day. With no nationwide textile recycling services, most of this waste results in landfills, is burned, or is informally repurposed.

Kampala Capital Metropolis Authority (KCCA) handles waste assortment in Owino Market, however solely 69 per cent of blended textile and natural waste is formally collected. The remainder is both left unmanaged or collected by casual waste pickers, who repurpose textile scraps for upholstery, mattress stuffing, or gasoline.

The problem of unsold and unusable inventory

Second-hand clothes merchants rigorously choose their stock, however not all the pieces finds a purchaser. A staggering 54.8 per cent of dealer’s report that some objects stay unsellable, usually because of injury, fading, or irreparable stains. Whereas some try and clear inventory by means of reductions or seasonal gross sales, a good portion is in the end discarded.

At Owino Market, the examine established that the waste era begins the second imported bales are unwrapped. Inside every 45kg bale, clothes is graded into:

Grade A – high-quality, nearly-new objects that fetch the best costs.
Grade B – good-quality objects with minor defects, offered at average costs.
Grade C – visibly worn garments, the most cost effective available in the market.
Fagi – regionally labeled as low-grade, slower-moving inventory.
Rags – closely worn-out or broken garments, usually repurposed or discarded.
Waste – fully unusable textiles, thrown away.

With an estimated 0.9–1 per cent of clothes in every bale labeled as waste, Uganda generates over 800,000Kg of SHC waste yearly from bale-opening alone. That is along with the tonnes of textiles discarded by shoppers day by day.

Casual options: Waste pickers and tailors

Confronted with mounting waste, casual waste pickers and tailors are rising as key gamers in waste diversion. In Owino Market, round 755,820–879,580Kg of textile waste is collected yearly by casual collectors, primarily consisting of tailoring offcuts. These supplies are sometimes repurposed into merchandise reminiscent of:

Pillow and mattress stuffing
Cleansing rags for industries
Small material objects like hair equipment and youngsters’s toys

Whereas these efforts assist cut back waste, the casual sector lacks the size and funding wanted to completely combine textile recycling into Uganda’s economic system. With out structured assortment and repurposing methods, a big portion of second-hand clothes waste nonetheless finds its method into landfills or is burned, contributing to air air pollution and environmental degradation.

The round economic system resolution

Recognizing the pressing want for motion, the Uganda Round Textiles Mission has launched initiatives to discover waste sorting and reuse methods. A pilot venture involving trend college students, textile specialists, and artisans efficiently repurposed textile waste into trend objects, house décor, and paintings. A number of the merchandise developed included:

Flooring mats and desk mats
Upcycled material tops
Ornamental wall hangings

This shift from viewing textiles as waste to seeing them as uncooked supplies presents a serious alternative for Uganda to transition towards a round textile economic system. If correctly applied, the examine estimates that upcycling second-hand clothes waste may create new inexperienced jobs, cut back landfill reliance, and open doorways for worldwide funding in textile innovation.

The financial potential of textile waste recycling

Monetary evaluation from the pilot initiative revealed that novice tailors may earn US$4.6 per day, whereas skilled tailors may make as much as US$17.9 per day by repurposing textile waste. The success of this initiative demonstrates that textile recycling is not only an environmental necessity but in addition an financial alternative. Past particular person earnings, structured funding in textile recycling may result in:

Creation of specialised textile recycling hubs
Growth of upcycling enterprises
Discount in reliance on landfill disposal
Decrease carbon emissions from textile waste burning
The way forward for textile waste administration – coverage, funding, and Innovation

For Uganda to completely embrace sustainable textile administration, collaboration between stakeholders is essential. Native governments, worldwide organizations, and companies should work collectively to:

Set up textile recycling infrastructure – Funding in large-scale sorting, shredding, and repurposing services.
Develop insurance policies supporting round trend – Incentives for companies that interact in textile recycling and waste discount.
Educate shoppers on sustainable trend – Encouraging accountable consumption and donation as an alternative of discarding garments.
Help innovation in upcycling – Selling native expertise in repurposing textiles into high-value merchandise.

All in all, the survey has established that Uganda’s love for second-hand clothes has created each financial advantages and environmental challenges. Whereas second-hand clothes offers reasonably priced trend and helps hundreds of livelihoods, the nation is struggling to handle the rising textile waste drawback.

The Uganda Round Textiles Mission presents a roadmap for a sustainable future, demonstrating that with funding, innovation, and coverage help, Uganda can remodel textile waste into new financial alternatives. The time to behave is now—to maintain trend accessible whereas guaranteeing a cleaner, greener future for generations to return.

Learn additionally: AfDB: Round economic system is Africa’s future