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Where Donated Clothes Really Go
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The best of these are sent to the charity's own shops. Even there, items that do not sell within a few weeks are usually removed to make room for new stock.
When people drop unwanted clothes into a donation bank, they usually imagine them being worn by someone in their own town. In reality, only a small share of donated clothing is sold locally.
What cannot be resold even abroad is shredded for use as insulation or cleaning cloths, or sent to landfill. Critics argue that this long chain hides the true cost of buying cheap clothes that are worn only a few times.
Together with the clothing rejected at the sorting stage, these unsold garments are pressed into large bales and sold by weight to traders, many of whom export them to markets in East Africa or Eastern Europe.
The bags are first taken to a sorting centre, where workers check each item by hand. Clean garments in good condition are separated from those that are torn, stained or out of fashion.