Once collected, textiles, household linen and footwear (CHF) are sorted in specialised centres. Around 60% of the items are still in good condition and are sold second-hand in France or abroad. The remaining 40%, which are too damaged, are recycled as insulation, wiping cloths or textile fibres. So how does the international second-hand market work? What are the opportunities and challenges? Should we continue to export?  

The international second-hand market 

Large-scale export refers to the resale of second-hand clothes and shoes on foreign markets. Initially a humanitarian activity, it has evolved into a structured business, responding to strong international demand. Indeed, global demand for second-hand clothing is 5 million tonnes a year. 

Insufficient domestic demand

It is partly because domestic demand is insufficient that French operators are turning to international markets to sell off their stocks. Textile exports follow the hierarchy of waste treatment methods: priority to re-use, then recycling, and finally energy recovery. 

Practically, 90% of reusable clothing is exported from France to Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Cameroon. 

Exporting helps to extend the life of clothes, preserve natural resources and generate jobs, particularly in the social economy. In Ghana, for example, second-hand clothing accounts for 7% of GDP..

An open and competitive market

For several months now, we have been witnessing a highly structural market reversal. Buying countries are turning away from French sources in favour of second-hand - or even new - textiles from Europe or China at knock-down prices. The collapse of international outlets, the fall in resale prices and the saturation of sorting centres are considerably weakening the French collection and sorting sector. 

What solutions are there to meet the challenges of international second-hand market? 

Although the economic benefits of exporting are significant at local level, it also raises real environmental issues. The countries to which textiles and footwear are exported have no waste treatment systems. As a result, some regions inevitably become landfill sites. 

To limit the environmental impact of textile waste and gradually reduce the proportion of textiles exported, Refashion is investing in a number of areas: 

• Ecodesign of products, encouraged by eco-modulations 

• The development of a quality reuse offer throughout France 

• R&D and the industrialisation of recycling in France and Europe.