these associations are overwhelmed with donations of clothing in poor condition

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When the seasons change, the ritual is often the same: we make space in our closets, sorting our clothes. Those that we no longer wear, or that no longer fit us (but are still in good condition) often end up on Vinted.

And it happens that the rest is donated to associations like Emmaüs, Secours populaire or even the Red Cross, who harvest them to give them to beneficiaries in need or sell them in their second-hand shops.

Thus, associations sometimes pick up the broken pieces, namely damaged clothes. At this time of year, just before Christmas, several associations have warned of the inundation of clothing donations that they have to face.

The fault of overconsumption of textiles, and in particular new clothes, very inexpensive, and therefore of poor quality.

“More waste than clothes”

This is the observation drawn up by Secours populaire and its national secretary in charge of solidarity, Houria Tareb, who has noted an evolution in donations over the past fifteen years.

“Before, we had better quality donations, because there were no sites like Vinted. Today, we find ourselves managing a massive arrival of donations of very poor quality clothingvery often damaged and which we cannot give to people who are in need,” explains Houria Tareb toactu.fr.

The association estimates on average the mass of clothing received each day at 100 kg in an average structure. Of which around 60/70% cannot be used directly, and are sent to a recycler, who takes care of sorting after the associations.

We have more waste than clothes that we can offer to the beneficiaries. We collect, then we sort: it's a huge amount of work up front to see if the clothing is not stained or damaged.

Less emotional attachment to clothes

Same observation for the textile sector of Emmaüs France, which notes an increase in the arrival of textiles in their brands, and a decline in the quality of donations, and therefore in the reusability of clothing.

Louana Lamer, in charge of the textile sector at Emmaüs France, sees this as an explanation: “There is the emotional attachment to clothing which is diminishing: we receive fast fashion clothing which people part with, because it was not not the flagship piece of their wardrobe, which they could keep over time,” she explains toactu.fr.

“Without forgetting the purchasing power of the French, which continues to decline,” recalls Houria Tareb.

Recyclers are also drowning in clothes

With the advent of Chinese sites like Shein or Temu (ultra-fast-fashion) and fast-fashion brands (Pull & Bear, Zara, etc.), clothes are inexpensive, made of synthetic materials, and deteriorate quickly. “They pill, they deteriorate when washed,” notes Louana Lamer. So people part with it quickly.

Or recyclers to whom the associations then give these unusable clothes explain that it is very complicated toe recycle synthetic or polyester clothing (and there are many clothes made from this material sold on sites like Shein or Temu). Recyclers favor 100% cotton to make insulation, in particular.

“People give anything and everything”

Thus, Secours populaire tries as much as possible to review the clothing brought in association with the people who donate. “Sometimes we give them back what is wrong, we explain it to them. Sometimes some people don't understand, not to mention the people who walk in front of the door,” laments Houria Tareb, who explains that the association sometimes has no other choice than to refuse clothes that are in too poor condition.

People give anything and everything, some take us for trash, a dump.

Same story at Secours Catholique de Quimper, now more selective about donations: “the association asks users to only donate clothes in good condition”, reports our local editorial staff Quimper side.

Keep giving… but better

On the Emmaüs France side, the approach is a little different. Donations arrive either directly at the association's collection points (the Emmaüs centers), or via collection terminals posted on sidewalks throughout France (including the Relais terminals, another association which depends on Emmaüs ).

“Our credo is to never refuse donations people who take them directly to their Emmaus. Even if it's damaged or stained, we take it. The only clothes we refuse are those that are wet, because afterwards they become moldy. Via the textile terminals, it happens that certain clothes do not comply either,” explains Louana Lamer.

Although locally, some stores ask donors to only donate good quality clothing.

For its part, Secours populaire qualifies a little: “We still need to ask ourselves the question of whether we could wear this item of clothing that we bring in association. If the answer is no, because the clothing is torn or stained, it is better to put it directly at the Relay terminals.”

Ghana, the “textile trash can of the world”

However, you should know that recycling clothing counts for a lot in the recovery of donations.

We are very careful to ensure that sorting is done as much as possible in France to separate the clothes according to their quality. Some are reused (in total, 5% go to Emmaus stores), 50% are exported (via relays in Africa for example) and others are recycled (around 35%), to use the raw material , to enhance it. The rest goes to waste (10%).

In fact, associations like Emmaüs send what cannot be donated or sold to sorting centers, which are also overwhelmed by tons of second-hand clothes.

“As a result, we sometimes have to slow down the frequency of collections. So we occasionally have structures that remove bollards on the roads, for example, and only one told us that it refused textile donations,” grimaces Louana Lamer.

Thus, despite the desire to reuse as much as possible, a large proportion of clothes which cannot be given to beneficiaries are sent in “bales” of 50 kg to countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast, or Kenyawho buy them a pittance.

At the risk of ending up in open landfills

Unfortunately, the second-hand clothing market is less and less juicy in East Africa : second-hand clothes are sold on markets, then those which do not find buyers, because they are in too poor condition, end up… in huge open-air dumpssea views. For 40% of them, in total, according to an article in Reporterre.

In finethese textiles are often burned and in the process release toxic fumes for the surrounding residents.

“We are polluting countries that don’t need that,” laments Houria Tareb. She explains that Secours populaire chooses to work with a recycler who makes insulation from clothing in poor condition, when others send 100% for export.

A frozen market

The associations, well aware of the problem, do not want to stop exports. “We must continue, but in reasonable quantities. It's necessary be more vigilant about how these textiles are exported“, we do not want to contribute to landfills in Ghana,” says Emmaüs, which explains that this way of recycling textiles also creates local employment.

The associations regret that the dynamic of reusing clothing has stalled. “China competes with us: it exports a lot of second-hand goods and recycles them. So the competition is great,” notes the Emmaüs textile manager.

Clearly, there is no miracle solution to stem this flood of donations which, for many, do not find takers. Set apart “ making consumers responsible for their clothing purchases »recalls Houria Tareb.

“The solution would be toproduce less and better: that the clothing lasts longer and that we maintain it (by learning to repair it in particular), that it is also eco-designed to improve its recycling”. And that public policies promote this sustainable clothing sector.

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