10 - Apparel disposal and reuse

Abstract

The fate of clothing at the end of its life cycle has become increasingly burdensome and complicated with the growth of mass production and multinational retail firms enabling the rapid delivery of fashionable items on a global scale to a trend-driven industry. The imbalance of consumption and disposal often pushes the overconsumption of developed nations into the markets of lesser-developed countries. To understand the context of apparel reuse and disposal, an examination of the global supply chain for apparel production and consumption is necessary because apparel is discarded at different points along this chain. Charitable organizations such as Oxfam, Goodwill, and the Salvation Army may be the first point of collection for unwanted clothing, but other for-profit organizations have entered the market for clothing collection in an effort to meet the market demands of a global trade in used clothing. Once the used garments enter a new market with new consumers it cannot be assumed that this is a sustainable solution to end-of-life management. Consideration of the impact of the used garment once it passes on to a new market should be factored into part of its life cycle. Demand for used clothing is slowing in some developing nations due to low-cost imports of new clothing or import restrictions. Therefore, developed nations will have to generate more alternatives for reuse in their own countries in order to prevent direct disposal of used clothing into waste streams.