Monitoring Worn Garments Across Europe and Beyond
In a bid to understand what happens to clothes after they leave stores, Greenpeace attached geolocators to 29 garments kept in municipal recycling containers and in Zara and Mango shops. These items had traveled thousands of kilometers and carried an uncertain future, with a mission to trace their journeys and reveal the paths they take after retail.
Four months of tracking confirmed that only one garment was reused, purchased second-hand in Romania. The study aligns with Black Friday dynamics, when large discounts encourage heavy purchases, and aims to spotlight the overproduction of clothing and shoes.
Most of the remaining clothing kept moving, not yet reaching a final destination despite its long voyages to places such as Chile, Pakistan, India, or Togo. Others sat in warehouses in Spanish industrial zones or remained silent, giving no clear signals about where they might end up.
Monitoring Across Elusive Pathways
The tracking devices were placed on garments and footwear with the potential for a second life in July and August. They were then stored in containers across 11 Spanish provinces, both on public roads and in Zara and Mango stores that partner with charitable organizations like Caritas.
Images from the study show a worn container in Catalonia, reflecting the practical realities of how used clothes are handled at the local level.
The first striking discovery was that the procurement systems behind these garments were the same in multiple cases. Greenpeace found items linked to two distribution systems that extend to the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan, with international stores in free zones to facilitate re-export.
Other pieces appeared in Africa, notably in Egypt, Togo, and Morocco. The European Environment Agency notes that 46 percent of used textile products sent from the European Union go to Africa, with 60 percent resold and 40 percent discarded, often released into the environment.
Nearly half of the tracked items had not yet left Spain, despite moving one or more times. Greenpeace explains that four months is not enough to conclusively determine every destination, and there is ongoing monitoring on their official platform.
During the study, researchers also identified a “disordered cycle” in textile waste management, noting that some actors circumvent municipal systems designed for selective waste collection.
Urgent Call for Systemic Change
The findings emphasize the need to radically rethink clothing production and consumption. Greenpeace warns against patchy fixes and urges a profound shift away from practices that fuel waste and environmental harm.
Effective management of used clothing must be paired with a sharp reduction in production and an emphasis on durability and quality. Brands will be obliged to adapt as new European regulations take shape, aiming to curb exports of unsorted textile waste and improve reuse and recycling outcomes.
Mango and Inditex (Zara) Respond
Following the report, Mango and Inditex announced the installation of clothing containers within their stores to encourage consumer participation. These containers are meant to channel items toward reuse, recycling, or cogeneration electricity depending on the material and condition.
Mango disclosed that most collected textiles are reused, a small portion remains in Spain as second-hand, and the rest is exported. Sorting for reuse or recycling is performed in advance, with future European rules likely to tighten restrictions on exporting unsorted waste.
Inditex stated that agreements with sorting partners include explicit prohibitions on diverting clothing to landfills or restricted export markets because of potential harms to communities.
According to Greenpeace, more than 60 percent of total clothing ends up being reused—either donated to people in need or resold to fund social initiatives.