Several African organisations, supported by European, Asian and American experts, have sent a letter to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warning about the reliability of the data underpinning its global textile circularity projects. They also denounce the credence given to actors “subservient” to the fast fashion giants.

It is, in fact, the evidence base of UNEP’s “Circularity and Trade in Used Textiles” project that is being called into question. Signed by organisations from Ghana, Togo, Kenya and Pakistan, the open letter casts doubt on the validity of key data, described as “unverified”. The signatories emphasise that data reliability is crucial to this forthcoming framework, which aims, among other things, to define the boundary between garments suitable for reuse in the second-hand market and textile waste.

The UNEP project aims to identify key policy, financing, investment and regulatory priorities for trade reforms and funding options to advance a sustainable, circular textile value chain. However, the signatories of the open letter criticise the recent consultation phase as rushed and skewed by the unverified figures it produced.

“What we have seen throughout this consultation process does not correspond to the objectivity expected of a United Nations programme,” said Jeffren Boakye Abrokwah, president of the Ghana Second-Hand Clothing Sellers Association.

“In Ghana, for example, UNEP’s research partner is an NGO that is already running a waste management awareness campaign and is funded by the fast fashion industry… This may have undermined the neutrality of the data collected.”

‘Subservient to the interests of fast fashion’

“UNEP’s willingness to adopt unverified conclusions contradicts its stated commitment to impartiality and undermines public confidence,” lamented Alan Wheeler, chief executive of the UK Textile Recycling Association.

“UNEP’s work risks being seriously compromised if it does not dissociate itself from militant organisations subservient to the interests of fast fashion,” warned Teresiah Wairimu Njenga, president of the Mitumba Consortium Association of Kenya.

The warning issued by the African stakeholders could make waves, given that images of clothing dumps in developing countries have shocked major apparel-consuming nations—countries where second-hand clothes from the West feed a vast resale market, outstripping the primary market in volume.

But the clash between the signatory organisations and UNEP also comes at a time of change for the global used-clothing market. African outlets for Western clothing have recently dwindled in the face of a massive influx of Asian garments into this second-hand market. With textile collection systems saturated, Sweden has, in an exceptional move, authorised the destruction of clothing, while in France collectors have gone on strike to warn that their business model is in jeopardy.

The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that the textile industry loses $500 billion in value, with 95% of discarded textiles being reusable garments. This comes as global clothing production has doubled over the past fifteen years.