Upcycling dumped clothes in Kenya may help save the planet

Homegrown businesses in Africa are developing a new industry to tackle the environmental damage created by fast fashion.

Upcycling, where poor-quality, discarded clothes are made into desirable products, is becoming more widespread in countries like Kenya, supported by the social enterprise group Africa Collect Textiles.

Here workers are earning an income and forging a sustainable industry. African countries like Kenya often bear the brunt of fast fashion waste. The group Clean Up Kenya says the country imports around 200,000 tons of used textiles each year.

Africa Collect Textiles (ACT), which operates in Nigeria as well as Kenya, says the problem is that many developing countries lack the infrastructure to dispose of textile waste in an environmentally friendly way. ACT focuses on processing textile waste.

It’s set up collection bins in high-traffic areas like malls and universities where people can easily dispose of old clothes. These are collected, and in the workshop, they’re sorted according to their quality and wearability.

ACT’s Natalie Naina says, “Since our goal is to extend fabric life, we have created a reseller program outside Nairobi where these clothes can still go ahead in circularity by vendors who would want cheaper options of bales (referring to bundles of clothes) rather than the more expensive ones in Gikomba (one of Kenya’s largest clothes markets). Then for our non-wearables, we have repurposed them through upcycling. Upcycling involves getting a cloth that is worn out and then transforming it into a better product where it can survive for longer.”

Naina says even donated clothes often end up in landfills and that’s what the organization is trying to avoid.

On its website, Africa Collect Textiles claims that since it was set up in 2020 it has collected nearly 200,000 kilograms of clothes, saved 1,200 tons of carbon and created 200 jobs for local people.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.