The Or Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation based in Accra in collaboration with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), has opposed the idea of a complete ban on secondhand clothing imports to Ghana.
The two organisations called for a balanced and systemic solution to the global textile waste crisis.
In a joint press release, they advocated a justice-led circular economy that tackled the root cause of the crisis, which had been overproduction.
Ghana’s most populous secondhand clothing market, the Kantamanto Market, is regarded as the largest secondhand clothing hub in the world, and has been a major source of livelihoods for people in Accra and beyond.
The entities said the local reuse economy had the potential to make Ghana a global leader in sustainable fashion and play a crucial role in Ghana’s economy.
“The Kantamanto Market, which is regarded as the largest secondhand clothing hub in the world, creatively reuses, repairs, and upcycles discarded clothing and provides a climate-positive solution,” they said.
Both organisations said an outright ban on secondhand imports would be detrimental and not address the issue of overproduction that had been caused by global fashion brands.
“The ban threatens the livelihoods of over 30,000 people working in the Kantamanto market. It undermines the model of circularity and expose the local market to new, low-quality garments from fast fashion brands,” they said
The Or Foundation and AMA urged fashion brands to reduce production volumes and take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products under an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework.
They said some two other organisations had led environmental cleanup efforts in Accra and had been removing over 20 tonnes of textile and plastic waste from the city’s beaches every week.
The entities gave an assurance of their continuous support to mobilise resources to improve the secondhand clothing trade in Ghana and called for policies that hold global fashion brands accountable for the waste they produce.
Research had uncovered that discarded clothing tags from international brands are linked to the environmental degradation seen in Accra.
GNA
