Storyline
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.
Script
[Products in The Artisanal Gallery, a shop selling upcycled products made from used clothes]
[External of Africa Collect Textiles (correct) warehouse]
[Worker bringing in a bin from a collection point full of clothes]
[Employees working on recycling clothes]
[Nathalie Naina from Africa Collect Textiles]
Nathalie Naina (interview): “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.”
[Employees at work for Africa Collect Textiles]
[Some of the finished products in a room]
Nathalie Naina (interview): “What we do not know is that after the relative or the child at the children’s home has worn these clothes they are still going to find a way to dispose them and those are landfills. And when these clothes reach the landfills they are either burnt to reduce their volume or they are left to decay. What we do not know is that some of the clothes that are being produced now take almost 200 years to decompose. The solution ACT is providing is one that rather provides a zero waste solution, low carbon emissions but also kick starts a circular ecosystem for textile in the world.”
[Crista Victoria Mehta walking into her shop and looking at a recycled bag]
[Recycled rug]
[Rug with woven portrait of a woman]
Crista Victoria Mehta (interview): “When my clients are in the store and we are able to tell people that this is not just a basket or it is not just a carpet and it is actually made from jeans material, it immediately invokes a sense of a more conscious buying decision and a purchase decision that holds a lot more value than just a carpet or just a basket that they may have seen around in the same type of technique, but they are drawn towards knowing that their purchase has made a difference to the environment, it has taught them something they did not know existed. They suddenly know that if I have you know, foot ware or textiles lying in the house; I can come and donate it and it is going to be rebirthed into a beautiful product that others can buy.”
[Use Sabala Akatumbi walking to a clothes collection point and depositing clothes]
Use Sabala Akatumbi (interview): “Before I knew of Africa Collect Textiles, I used to throw my clothes in the dustbin or actually just give them away. But I realised they were going to end up in dumps so I walked into a mall and saw their bin and ever since then I give my clothes to them.”
[Finished recycled products]
Betterman Simidi (interview): “Every year we are importing around 200,000 tonnes of second hand clothing coming from all over the world into Kenya and so these clothes they might be used for one month, three months or even a year but at the end they have an end of life you know. So the question is where does this clothing go. You find that most of them they just end up in the dumpsite but with organisations like ACT, they are trying to put recycling systems; infrastructure in the country so that: one, we can recollect these clothes from people and also we can even resell them just to extend their end of life, but also so we can try and find recycling solutions for this clothing.”
[Products on sale at The Artisanal Gallery]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.
