A mountain of clothing waste, more than 39,000 tons, seen from space

The huge landfill containing "fast fashion" clothing in the Atacama Desert is so large that satellites can see it clearly.

Satellite images show mountains of clothing waste in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Photo: Skyfi

The Atacama Desert, Chile, has a clothing "graveyard" that is constantly expanding. They are discarded or unworn garments, mostly made in Bangladesh or China, shipped to retail stores in the U.S., Europe and Asia, then shipped to Chile when they can't be sold, Business Insider reported on May 23.

At least 39,000 tons of such clothing accumulated in the Atacama Desert in 2021, according to the AFP. They are mostly "fast fashion" - cheap clothes produced quickly according to the latest trends.

SkyFi, the developer of the satellite photo and video app, shared high-resolution satellite images of the clothing graveyard on May 11. "The image has a resolution of 50 cm, a very high resolution rating and was taken by satellite. It shows how big the mountain of garbage is compared to the city below," SkyFi wrote.

The clothes don't end up in city landfills because they are non-biodegradable and often contain chemical products, according to Franklin Zepeda, founder of EcoFibra, which tries to reuse clothes by making insulation panels.

The mountain of unused clothing is located near the port of Iquique, about 1.6 kilometers from some of the poorer neighborhoods of Iquique. Landfills sometimes attract migrants and local women. They come looking for things that can be worn or sold.

The fast fashion industry contributes 2% to 8% of the world's carbon emissions, the United Nations said in 2018. According to a 2019 Insider article, nearly 85% of garments are thrown away each year, and fashion production consumes large amounts of water, while polluting rivers and streams. Britain's Ellen McArthur estimates that about a second a garbage truck of clothes is burned and sent to landfill.

Source: VnExpress online newspaper