Donated clothing worsening Kenya's plastic pollution: report

A file photo of traders scavenging clothes from debris burnt down by the fire in the early morning at Gikomba market, East Africa's largest second hand clothing market, in Nairobi, Kenya. Photos: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP

One third of all secondhand clothing shipped to Kenya in 2021 was "plastic waste in disguise", creating a slew of environmental and health problems for local communities, a new report said Feb 16.

Every year, tonnes of donated clothing is sent to developing countries, but an estimated 30% of it ends up in landfills – or flooding local markets where it can crowd out local production.