Fast Fashion, Clothing Waste and Pollution: How Global Regulations Have Turned a Country into a Dumping Ground

By Danica Damoah '28

Guest Writer, Brown University

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Introduction: Kantamanto Market

On the early morning of January 2, 2025, as fireworks scattered across the Accra skyline and celebrations for the start of the new year unfolded, a blaze began to ravage the iconic Kantamanto District, a sprawling textile market located in the central business hub of Ghana’s capital city. In the aftermath of this tragedy, two people died, fourteen people were seriously injured, and over 30,000 traders suffered devastating consequences, losing shops, money, and valuable goods. (1)

The impact of this catastrophic fire would shine a light on Kantamanto itself, the largest secondhand clothing hub in West Africa, and one of the largest in the world. The goods sold at Kantamanto are popularly referred to by locals as obroni wawu, or “dead white man’s clothing.” (2) These garments originate from countries across Europe, North America, and Asia, and through a phenomenon known as textile waste colonialism, they often end up at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, scattered on a beach in the Global South, or folded in a stall at Kantamanto.

Textile Waste Colonialism 

The term waste colonialism refers to the practice of using waste and pollution to dominate or exploit another group within that group’s homeland. It was first coined in 1989 during a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) meeting when African nations voiced concerns about high-GDP countries dumping hazardous waste in low-GDP countries. (3)

In the current Ghanaian context, this harmful practice of importing large volumes of secondhand clothing is closely linked to laws and trade dynamics rooted in the country’s colonial era. Under British rule, a policy known as the Clothing Ordinance mandated that Ghanaians wear Western attire to school and church. Due to high costs, many began to rely on imported second-hand clothing to comply with these rules. (4) This shift was further reinforced by colonial mandates requiring locals to abandon traditional garments in favor of British-approved professional dress codes in order to access certain professions or enter specific buildings. (5)

As the fast fashion industry expanded in the Global North, particularly in the United States and Europe, consumers began purchasing more clothing and falsely believed that donating their old garments was charitable and would “help people in Africa who needed them.” (6) Today, this process continues, with Kantamanto Market receiving an estimated 15 million garments each week, 40% of which are labeled as waste or deemed unusable. (7)

Legal and Regulatory Infrastructure 

The continuation of the textile waste epidemic in modern-day Ghana and other parts of the Global South is driven by several factors including limited mainstream awareness, the economic incentives of the trade, and, most notably, the absence of adequate laws and regulations to hold producers and consumers accountable, the last of which we will explore further. 

One key example of the regulatory gap can be seen in the policies implemented by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the world’s leading international body governing global trade, which promotes trade liberalization through principles such as the removal of trade barriers. (8) As a member state, Ghana has ratified the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), a multilateral trade agreement that obligates it to reduce tariffs, quotas, and other protectionist measures to encourage free trade. (9) As a result, Ghana is discouraged from implementing protectionist policies that could restrict the import of secondhand garments, even when these imports directly compete with and undermine domestic textile production.

Similarly, another international treaty that falls short of fully preventing this kind of trade is the Basel Convention. Signed in 1989, this multilateral agreement was, ironically, created in response to public outcry over the dumping of toxic waste in Africa during the 1980s. The agreement aims to promote environmentally sound waste management and regulate transboundary movements to restrict the flow of hazardous waste. (10) Despite this, the convention’s effectiveness depends on how goods are classified. Since many of these unusable imported garments are labeled as donations rather than toxic waste, they are often able to bypass regulations and enter recipient countries with little resistance.

Lastly, one of the most significant legislative tools related to textile production is the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). This environmental policy, a form of product stewardship, holds producers accountable for a product’s entire life cycle, which includes the post-consumer stage. (11) However, France remains the only country to have implemented a textile-specific EPR policy. This was introduced nearly 20 years ago, meaning it lacks the nuance to adequately address the modern issue of overproduction that has emerged in recent years. (12)

Call To Action: Potential Legal Protections 

Having identified the legal gaps that sustain this harmful practice, we can now consider potential new laws or the expansion of existing regulations to help resist Textile Waste Colonialism.

At the international level, the Basel Convention serves as the principal legal instrument for regulating the transboundary movement of hazardous waste. However, it currently lacks specificity regarding textile waste. To address this, the Convention should be amended to explicitly include textile waste as a distinct category under the definition of ‘hazardous waste’. This would create a clear legal basis for restricting the export of low-quality or unusable second-hand clothing into recipient countries. Closing this definitional loophole would not only strengthen enforcement mechanisms but also raise international awareness of the environmental and social implications of the practice. 

In the context of inter-trade relations, there is a pressing need for stricter trade laws and tighter import controls to effectively combat textile waste colonialism. Legislation should be enacted to prohibit the entry of second-hand goods that fail to meet minimum quality standards suitable for reuse in recipient countries. In addition, items labeled as “charity” or “donations” must undergo rigorous verification to ensure they are genuinely reusable and not simply waste disguised as aid. To support this, import regulations should mandate secondary screening procedures at ports of entry, enabling authorities to assess whether incoming textile shipments meet the criteria for quality and reusability. By denying entry to substandard goods at the border, there would be a direct reduction in the volume of textile waste dumped in countries like Ghana. 

These proposed legal protections, alongside existing calls for Extended Producer Responsibility that extends into the post-consumer phase, seek to directly challenge the continuation of textile waste colonialism. However, it is important to acknowledge that implementing such laws will require significant time, financial resources, and political will. Moreover, even with these frameworks in place, consistent and effective enforcement remains a major challenge that must be addressed to ensure long-term success.

Looking to the Future 

Over the past few years, environmental activists, community organizers, and non-profits like the OR Foundation have leveraged social media, artwork, and demonstrations to raise awareness about waste colonialism and to lobby policymakers for necessary legal and policy reforms. These reforms include making producers responsible for the lifecycle of their goods, reducing the influx of imported second-hand products, and establishing comprehensive waste management programs within recipient countries like Ghana. Most recently, the Ghanaian Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability announced that the country would be taking critical steps toward a circular economy, including the development of its own Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework. (13) This initiative represents a hopeful move toward a waste-free and more environmentally conscious future.

Endnotes

1. MyJoyOnline, “Kantamanto Market Fire: One Dead, over 30,000 Traders Affected, 7,000 Shops Destroyed,” MyJoyOnline. https://www.myjoyonline.com/kantamanto-market-fire-one-dead-over-30000-traders-affected-7000-shops-destroyed/.

2. Sarah Johnson, “‘Dead White Person’s Clothes’ Mount up as Ghana’s Kantamanto Market Struggles to Rebuild after Fire,” The Guardian, February 25, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/feb/24/ghana-clothes-market-fire-kantamanto-rebuild.

3. The Or Foundation, “What Is Waste Colonialism?” Stop Waste Colonialism. https://stopwastecolonialism.org/what-is-waste-colonialism/.

4. Human Rights Research Center, “Second-Hand Fast Fashion Waste in Ghana,” HRRC, December 4, 2024. https://www.humanrightsresearch.org/post/second-hand-fast-fashion-waste-in-ghana.

5. The Or Foundation, “What Is Waste Colonialism?” Stop Waste Colonialism. https://stopwastecolonialism.org/what-is-waste-colonialism/.

6. Paris Good Fashion, “The World’s Thrift Store: Ghana Is Overflowing with Our Clothes,” Paris Good Fashion, November 28, 2022. https://parisgoodfashion.fr/en/news/the-worlds-thrift-store-ghana-is-overflowing-with-our-clothes-603/.

7. The Or Foundation, “What Is Waste Colonialism?” Stop Waste Colonialism. https://stopwastecolonialism.org/what-is-waste-colonialism/.

8. Cephas Lumina, “Free Trade or Just Trade? The World Trade Organisation, Human Rights and Development (Part 1),” Law, Democracy & Development 12 (2008): 1–20. https://www.saflii.org/za/journals/LDD/2008/11.pdf.

9. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT),” Encyclopedia Britannica, May 27, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/topic/General-Agreement-on-Tariffs-and-Trade.

10. Basel Convention. “Basel Convention > The Convention > Overview.” Basel Convention. https://www.basel.int/TheConvention/Overview/tabid/1271/Default.aspx.

11. Stop Waste Colonialism, “What Is EPR?” Stop Waste Colonialism. https://stopwastecolonialism.org/what-is-epr/.

12. Ibid.

13. GhanaWeb, “Ghana to Transition from Linear Economy to Circular – Seidu Issifu,” GhanaWeb. https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Ghana-to-transition-from-linear-economy-to-circular-Seidu-Issifu-1985426.