Average distance traveled: more than 9,000 kilometers
Greenpeace asked a question many people have asked: what happens to clothes when they are dropped into a public clothing container? In 2023 they placed GPS devices in 29 used garments and sneakers to track their movements in real time. The aim, they explain, was to obtain a precise, real-world picture of where these items go. Greenpeace, 2023.
All the garments, used but in good condition, were deposited in public clothing containers or in Zara and Mango stores located in 11 Spanish cities: A Coruña, Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Castellón, Granada, Madrid, Málaga, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Seville, and Valencia. This experiment happened between August and September 2023. A few months later, the team observed that second life for clothes was limited to exceptions. Now, more than a year later, they say the use-and-throw model is an environmental time bomb with social implications. Greenpeace, 2023.
Most of the clothing ended up in Asia and Africa, where recycling standards do not meet European Union norms, raising the risk of textile dumps that cause real environmental damage in those regions. Greenpeace, 2023.
Deployed with the goal of understanding end destinations, the project revealed that 23 of the 29 items could be tracked with usable data. That sample was enough to perform a solid analysis of where the garments went and the distances they covered. Greenpeace, 2023.
To calculate the routes, researchers used road-routing tools for overland travel and maritime-distance calculations for global shipping. The aggregate data showed that the 23 garments traveled a total of more than 205,100 kilometers, roughly five circumnavigations of the planet. Only two items remained in Spain, ending up in an Almería landfill and a municipal waste facility in Fuenlabrada near Madrid. Greenpeace, 2023.
The remaining 21 garments departed Spain, landing in eleven countries across four continents, with average journeys around 9,711 kilometers. Greenpeace, 2023.
The longest documented journey involved a pair of beige trousers that started in a Madrid shop and traveled 22,532 kilometers. The route passed through the United Arab Emirates before reaching Abiyán in Ivory Coast, where the tracking was lost at a local gbaka stop, a form of informal minibuses used for community travel. Greenpeace, 2023.
Only one denim jacket ended up in a European country other than Spain, arriving first at the port of Algeciras, then Bulgaria, and finally Tulcea in Romania. The analysis suggests the item was likely bought in a second-hand shop. Greenpeace, 2023.
United Arab Emirates
Several garments reached the United Arab Emirates, with seven devices detected there. Five were found in the Hamriyah Free Zone in Sharjah, a hub where several companies deal in used clothing and textile waste. The other two were located in the Sharjah International Airport Free Zone, where multiple used-clothing businesses operate. Greenpeace, 2023.
Four of those seven devices later reappeared in Egypt, Ivory Coast, and India, indicating that the UAE was a waypoint rather than a final destination. Greenpeace, 2023.
Pakistan
Five other garments were traced in Pakistan, with two in the Karachi Export Processing Zone and three in a textile-waste warehouse by the Lyari River. Three garments traveled further into the country, while two reached Lahore, where a growing recycling scene for cotton and polyester exists. Greenpeace, 2023.
India
Three items arrived in India, two of them via the UAE. All three produced their last signal in Panipat, Haryana, a region known for a textile-waste recycling industry and described by researchers as the capital of waste. Greenpeace, 2023.
Egypt
One garment was detected in Egypt, first in Giza near Cairo and later in the coastal city of Alexandria, about 200 kilometers away. Before reaching Egypt, it had been in the United Arab Emirates in October 2023. Greenpeace, 2023.
Morocco, Togo and Ghana
Two devices crossed the Strait on their way to Morocco, reaching the port of Tanger Med. In total, the study highlights a large African footprint, with five devices reaching West and Central Africa. Two were located in Togo, in Lomé, while another appeared in Ghana at the Denu market near the river. Greenpeace, 2023.
One device ended up in the Hédzranawoé market, a place where secondhand clothing markets are common, while another’s trace faded in Ghana. Greenpeace, 2023.
Cameroon and Ivory Coast
Two devices were registered in Duala, Cameroon, where local textile imports have a modest footprint. The study notes that the Ivory Coast journeys were long, with the item traveled the farthest originating in Madrid and ending in Abidjan after passing through the United Arab Emirates. It covered more than 22,000 kilometers over 215 days before the trace was lost. Greenpeace, 2023.
Researchers emphasize that the huge volumes of used clothing entering these countries disrupt local markets for new and secondhand apparel alike. Greenpeace, 2023.
Chile
Only one garment reached the American continent, ending up in Santiago, Chile, more than 10,000 kilometers from the original container. Chile has faced a dramatic buildup of discarded clothing in the Atacama Desert, where enormous piles are often burned or dumped to hide the waste. Greenpeace, 2023.
What can be done?
The data release this week is not accidental, says Sara del Río, who led the research. Consumers often know about dumping and shipments to Asia, but they may not connect those patterns to their own buying habits. The European Union is a major source of these exports. In the countries receiving garments, the influx hurts local markets, creates waste, and sometimes leads to pollution along rivers and beaches. Greenpeace, 2023.
Del Río urges a shift away from the consumption-driven model, noting that some secondhand clothing ends up in stores while much more ends up in landfills or incinerators. Greenpeace argues that greenwashing is common—companies marketing themselves as eco-friendly while practices remain unsustainable. Real progress would require producing and buying far less clothing and pushing brands toward durable, responsibly produced fashion. Greenpeace also calls out the tendency to treat Black Friday as a symbol of unsustainable consumption. Greenpeace, 2023.
Consumers should buy less, choose quality garments that last, and press brands to adopt durable, responsible production. Greenpeace emphasizes the need to understand the hidden costs behind price tags and the pollution that often shifts to communities far away for the sake of fashion. Greenpeace, 2023.
In conclusion, consumers must consider the environmental and social costs tied to clothing production and shipping. The goal is to support a shift toward reduced, responsible consumption rather than simply relocating the problem. Greenpeace, 2023.
According to official data from the Tax Office, 92 percent (129,705 tons) of textile waste exported by Spain in 2023 consisted of used clothes. Greenpeace notes that most of these clothes are discarded without being used, with brands steering away from returns or managing them in new ways. Clothes are frequently sent to landfills and incinerators, polluting air and groundwater. The textile industry accounts for about 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, with air transport contributing a significant share; fast fashion adds millions of tons of CO2. Greenpeace, 2024.