The Journey of a Discarded T-shirt

Textile waste management is an increasingly urgent issue due to textile mass production and consumption, which leads to significant waste generation. Strategies for managing textile waste prioritise reuse and recycling over incineration and landfilling. However, reuse and recycling practices perform...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Morell Delgado, Gemma|||0000-0001-8849-9704, Talens Peiró, Laura|||0000-0002-1131-1838, Toboso-Chavero, Susana|||0000-0001-8475-5184
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:318325
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/318325
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s43615-025-00618-z
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Textile waste management
Environmental impacts
Used textile trade
Waste import-export
Textile landfill
Circular economy
id ES_db8d468833e6c8fc97d5b2f62b80cb0c
oai_identifier_str oai:ddd.uab.cat:318325
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling The Journey of a Discarded T-shirtFrom the Global North to the Atacama DumpsiteMorell Delgado, Gemma|||0000-0001-8849-9704Talens Peiró, Laura|||0000-0002-1131-1838Toboso-Chavero, Susana|||0000-0001-8475-5184Textile waste managementEnvironmental impactsUsed textile tradeWaste import-exportTextile landfillCircular economyTextile waste management is an increasingly urgent issue due to textile mass production and consumption, which leads to significant waste generation. Strategies for managing textile waste prioritise reuse and recycling over incineration and landfilling. However, reuse and recycling practices performed in the same territory where textiles are consumed remain limited. Instead, used textiles from high-income countries are often exported to the Global South and low- and middle-income countries, leading to numerous environmental impacts in these regions. This study examines the value chain of imported used textiles in the Tarapacá and Santiago Metropolitan Regions of Chile. The results help propose a new methodological framework for environmentally assessing used textile trade practices in importing countries. The study employs a rapid-ethnography and qualitative mixed-method approach, including interactive shadowing and observation, conducted across eight locations. The findings reveal that used textiles enter the country first via ports and then are distributed within importer companies and second-hand retailers. There are initiatives for reuse, recycling, and downcycling, but the findings show that not all imported used textiles are effectively utilized. A portion of used textiles ends up as waste in dumpsites, exacerbating environmental impacts. The study recommends a qualitative and quantitative mixed-method approach to address data gaps and develop more exhaustive studies in importing countries. Future research should focus on quality standards to improve sorting, exporting criteria, and traceability of used textiles. This will enhance trade flow accounting and mitigate environmental impacts in importing countries, especially those from unsorted and low-quality used textiles. 22025-01-0120252025-01-01Articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://ddd.uab.cat/record/318325https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s43615-025-00618-zreponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UABinstname:Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaInglésengMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004837 CEX2019-000940-MAgència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003030 2021/SGR-00734"la Caixa" Foundation https://doi.org/10.13039/100010434 100010434open accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:ddd.uab.cat:3183252026-06-06T12:50:31Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The Journey of a Discarded T-shirt
From the Global North to the Atacama Dumpsite
title The Journey of a Discarded T-shirt
spellingShingle The Journey of a Discarded T-shirt
Morell Delgado, Gemma|||0000-0001-8849-9704
Textile waste management
Environmental impacts
Used textile trade
Waste import-export
Textile landfill
Circular economy
title_short The Journey of a Discarded T-shirt
title_full The Journey of a Discarded T-shirt
title_fullStr The Journey of a Discarded T-shirt
title_full_unstemmed The Journey of a Discarded T-shirt
title_sort The Journey of a Discarded T-shirt
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Morell Delgado, Gemma|||0000-0001-8849-9704
Talens Peiró, Laura|||0000-0002-1131-1838
Toboso-Chavero, Susana|||0000-0001-8475-5184
author Morell Delgado, Gemma|||0000-0001-8849-9704
author_facet Morell Delgado, Gemma|||0000-0001-8849-9704
Talens Peiró, Laura|||0000-0002-1131-1838
Toboso-Chavero, Susana|||0000-0001-8475-5184
author_role author
author2 Talens Peiró, Laura|||0000-0002-1131-1838
Toboso-Chavero, Susana|||0000-0001-8475-5184
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Textile waste management
Environmental impacts
Used textile trade
Waste import-export
Textile landfill
Circular economy
topic Textile waste management
Environmental impacts
Used textile trade
Waste import-export
Textile landfill
Circular economy
description Textile waste management is an increasingly urgent issue due to textile mass production and consumption, which leads to significant waste generation. Strategies for managing textile waste prioritise reuse and recycling over incineration and landfilling. However, reuse and recycling practices performed in the same territory where textiles are consumed remain limited. Instead, used textiles from high-income countries are often exported to the Global South and low- and middle-income countries, leading to numerous environmental impacts in these regions. This study examines the value chain of imported used textiles in the Tarapacá and Santiago Metropolitan Regions of Chile. The results help propose a new methodological framework for environmentally assessing used textile trade practices in importing countries. The study employs a rapid-ethnography and qualitative mixed-method approach, including interactive shadowing and observation, conducted across eight locations. The findings reveal that used textiles enter the country first via ports and then are distributed within importer companies and second-hand retailers. There are initiatives for reuse, recycling, and downcycling, but the findings show that not all imported used textiles are effectively utilized. A portion of used textiles ends up as waste in dumpsites, exacerbating environmental impacts. The study recommends a qualitative and quantitative mixed-method approach to address data gaps and develop more exhaustive studies in importing countries. Future research should focus on quality standards to improve sorting, exporting criteria, and traceability of used textiles. This will enhance trade flow accounting and mitigate environmental impacts in importing countries, especially those from unsorted and low-quality used textiles.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2
2025-01-01
2025
2025-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://ddd.uab.cat/record/318325
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s43615-025-00618-z
url https://ddd.uab.cat/record/318325
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s43615-025-00618-z
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004837 CEX2019-000940-M
Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca https://doi.org/10.13039/501100003030 2021/SGR-00734
"la Caixa" Foundation https://doi.org/10.13039/100010434 100010434
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
instname:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
instname_str Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
reponame_str Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
collection Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
_version_ 1869421686616489984
score 15.81155

Similares en LA Referencia