Fashion for Good and Circle Economy have released a new report highlighting the challenges and realities of the global secondhand clothing trade, revealing that a large portion of exported used garments arrive damaged despite being labelled as rewearable.
Titled Sorting for Circularity: Project Rewear, the year-long study examined the movement and condition of secondhand clothing exported from Europe to markets such as Kantamanto Market, one of the world’s largest secondhand clothing hubs. The research combined garment analysis across four European countries with field studies conducted in Ghana and Pakistan, alongside pilot projects focused on repair, AI-driven sorting technologies and digital aftersales systems.
According to the report, European households discard millions of tonnes of clothing annually, with around one-quarter of separately collected garments exported globally under the classification of reusable clothing. An estimated 15 million garments reportedly arrive every week at Kantamanto Market in Accra.
Researchers analysed 8,280 garments collected across four European countries and found that the majority of discarded clothing remained wearable. Approximately 37% of the garments showed no visible damage, while another 41% had only a single minor flaw. The findings suggest that economic factors, rather than garment condition, are the primary barrier preventing reuse.
However, the report also found that more than 86% of garments arriving at Ghana’s Kantamanto Market were damaged despite being sold and exported as reusable products. Local traders purchasing bales of secondhand garments reportedly receive no guarantee regarding product quality, forcing them to bear both the financial losses and environmental burden associated with unsellable clothing.
The study further explored how technology and operational changes could improve the economics of textile circularity. AI-powered sorting systems demonstrated the potential to transform profitability, with one model indicating that a mid-sized sorting facility could shift from generating no profit to earning up to €6.5 million annually.
Repair and refurbishment initiatives were found to be economically viable for durable products such as outerwear and denim. However, repairing low-cost fast fashion basics often proved financially impractical, as restoration costs exceeded potential resale value.
The report concludes that while rewear and secondhand markets play an important role in extending garment lifecycles, they cannot serve as the sole solution to the textile waste crisis. Researchers emphasized that without reducing overall clothing production volumes, circular systems risk becoming parallel secondary markets rather than driving genuine systemic change in the fashion industry.
