The garments were donated to charity shops or put in clothing recycling banks by well-meaning Brits expecting them to be reused


Britain's love of fast fashion is fuelling an environmental “catastrophe” in Ghana, experts warn.

Many garments donated in the UK are so cheaply made they can’t be reused.

Discarded clothing that was once worn in the UK rots in a 30ft-high toxic textile mountain in Ghana’s capital Accra.

It is an environmental crisis caused by our obsession with fast fashion.


Nearby, at a beach in the Jamestown district, kids play on a rotting carpet of old clothing wedged in the sand.

I found dozens of British labels including items from John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and New Look.

These garments were donated to charity shops or put in clothing recycling banks by well-meaning Brits expecting them to be reused.


But campaigners say much of the clothing being donated in the UK is cheap and mass produced, leaving Ghana – the main recipient of our second-hand garments – at breaking point.

Liz Ricketts, co-founder of The Or Foundation, a non-profit organisation probing the impact of the second-hand clothing trade in Accra, said: “It’s an environmental catastrophe.”


Fast fashion is the mass production of cheap garments to cater to changing trends.

Items are often worn just once.