Precis

Have you ever thought about what happens to your old clothes after you drop them off at the op shop?

It might be time to start, because these goodwill gestures are helping to fuel an environmental catastrophe on the other side of the world.

When charities in Australia can’t sell donated clothing, tonnes of it ends up being exported to countries like Ghana, in West Africa. Ship after ship docks every week with bales from Europe, the US, China and Australia.

They call them "Dead White Man’s Clothes". Once they arrive in Ghana, they’re taken to the bustling Kantamanto markets in the capital Accra and from here, they make their way to villages and towns across the country.

The industry provides jobs for thousands of people, like Asare Asamoah, a successful importer. He brings in clothes, mainly from the United Kingdom, and if they’re good quality, he can make a decent living.

But it’s risky business. He has to pay upfront for a bale and never knows whether it’s trash or treasure. With cheap, fast fashion flooding the world, the quality of the clothes arriving in Ghana is getting worse and worse.

"Sometimes you’ve gone and bought something, then you don’t get what you want," says Asamoah. "Then you lose your money.”

And there’s a dark side to this industry.

Correspondent Linton Besser travels to Ghana to uncover the dirty secret behind the world’s fashion addiction.

While 60 per cent of imported fashion items are reused and resold, 40 per cent are rubbish, creating an environmental catastrophe for this poor nation.

With the main dumpsite for textile waste now full, unregulated dumpsites ring the city. These fetid clothes mountains are often set on fire, filling the skies with acrid smoke.

"It is totally a disservice to us in this part of the world because we have become sort of the dumping ground for the textile waste that is produced from Europe, from the Americas," says Accra’s waste manager, Solomon Noi.

Emmanuel Ajaab imports used clothes from Australia but he despairs at the poor quality of many of the clothes that arrive. From a bale of about 200 garments, he finds only seven he can resell at a good price.

"In Europe and UK and Australia, America, they think Africa here, sorry to say, we are not like a human being," he tells Foreign Correspondent.

The dumped textiles also get swept up in the monsoonal rains and end up choking the city’s waterways and beaches, posing a danger to fishermen and aquatic life. Liz Ricketts, who runs an NGO campaigning for awareness of Ghana's textile waste crisis, lays the blame at the feet of international fashion houses.

"Waste is a part of the business model of fashion. A lot of brands overproduce by up to 40 per cent," says Ricketts.

Noi begs the people who donate their clothes to think twice about where they end up.

"If they come here, like you've come, and you see the practicality for yourself, then they will know that, no, we better take care of these things within our country and not to ship that problem to cause problems to other people."

Ident

00:00

Ghana beach

Music

00:10

Container ship. Unloading clothing bales

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: ON THE COAST OF WEST AFRICA, THE SHIPS ARRIVE DAY AFTER DAY, WITH AN UNRELENTING CARGO.

00:15

Clothing bales in market

IN GHANA, THEY CALL THEM ‘OBRONI WAWU’, OR THE CLOTHES OF DEAD WHITE MEN.

00:27

Emmanuel sorts through clothing

EMMANUEL AJAAB: Take this bale from Australia.

00:34

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THEY’RE THE CHARITY SHOP CAST OFFS FROM THE WESTERN WORLD.

00:37

EMMANUEL AJAAB: Dirty.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: It’s sweat.

EMMANUEL AJAAB: You see. Rubbish. It’s like an insult.

00:41

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: TOO MANY OF THEM ARRIVE IN UNWEARABLE CONDITION.

00:47

Women sift through clothing/Clothing in landfill

WHILE THE TRADE IN USED CLOTHES HAS CREATED THOUSANDS OF JOBS, IT’S ALSO TURNING PARTS OF GHANA INTO A TOXIC LANDFILL.

SOLOMON NOI: This place is serving as a dumping ground

00:51

Solomon

for textile waste in the name of second-hand clothing

01:06

Linton walks over dump with Liz

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THE WORLD’S UNWANTED FASHION ENDS ITS JOURNEY HERE.  

01:10

Dumped clothing washed up on beach

LIZ RICKETTS: We call them tentacles. When they first wash up from the sea they’re very long.

01:17

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: IT’S CREATING AN ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE OF UNTHINKABLE PROPORTIONS.

01:25

Title:
Dead White Man's Clothes

01:32

Dawn activity GVs. Super:
Linton Besser
Reporter

01:36

Early morning food vendors

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: IN ACCRA, THE WORKING DAY BEGINS LONG BEFORE DAWN…

01:50

music

01:55

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: …AS THOUSANDS OF GHANAIANS MAKE THEIR DAILY MIGRATION INTO THE CENTRE OF THIS WEST AFRICAN CAPITAL.

02:07

Fadama/Aisha walks carrying Sherrif

FROM OLD FADAMA, ACCRA’S BIGGEST SLUM, AISHA IDDRISU AND HER EIGHTEEN-MONTH-OLD SON SHERRIF JOIN THE THRONG WORKING IN THE SECOND HAND CLOTHES TRADE.

02:15

Music

02:35

Aisha interview

AISHA IDDRISU: I come from the north where there are few jobs, so I decided to migrate here to try and make some money to take care of my children back home. It was a painful decision but there's no other way to care for my family.

02:42

Asare driving, early morning

Music

03:10

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: ASARE ASAMOAH STARTS HIS DAY EARLY, TOO. HE’S A SUCCESSFUL IMPORTER OF USED CLOTHING.

03:14

Asare arrives at clothing business

ASARE ASAMOAH: I was following my brother whilst we are doing the business.

03:24

Asare interview

Unfortunately, my brother passed away, so he handed everything to me. I always think about him, because he made me who I am.

03:29

Asare oversees bale delivery

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: TODAY NEW BALES ARRIVE AND ASARE IS CHECKING ON HIS ORDER.  

03:38

Asare: "But where is the A and where is the B bale? Yeah… I was calling to ask you, but it's arrived.

03:44

Woman customer at Asare's business

Woman: "Nice, nice bale. Big, big quality.

Linton: "Yeah. Big bale. With quality?"

Woman: "Quality."

Linton: "Hope you get a good one."

Woman: "Thank you."

03:57

Kantamanto market GVs

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THESE BALES ARE BEING DESPATCHED TO ALMOST EVERY CORNER OF ACCRA’S COMMERCIAL HEART, THE SPRAWLING KANTAMANTO MARKET.

04:08

IT’S A BUSTLING LABYRINTH WHERE ALMOST EVERYTHING IS FOR SALE.

04:21

Music

04:29

Linton to camera in market

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: "These markets are one of the biggest in West Africa if not the world, and they’re a central hub for second-hand clothing. From here they get shipped all over Africa."

04:46

Kantamanto market second-hand clothing vendors

Music

04:56

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: FOR THE PAST TWO DECADES, THE RESALE OF WESTERN CAST OFFS HAS BOOMED HERE. IT'S CREATED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF JOBS

04:59

Music

05:08

Porters carry bales

Man: "Let him take this bale away."

05:15

Retailers gather around clothing supplier

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THESE MEN AND WOMEN ARE RETAILERS EAGER TO SEIZE THE BEST CLOTHES FROM A PRIZED NEW BALE.

05:19

Woman: "You're looking very good today, you look really good. The one and only fresh man."

05:26

Man: "Stop that, you know it’s action time."

05:34

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THEY’RE OLD FRIENDS, BUT THIS MORNING THERE’S A LOT AT STAKE.

05:38

Woman: "You have to be pushy so he doesn’t take your favourite colours."

05:43

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: SO FOR THE NEXT FEW MOMENTS THEY’RE ALSO ARCH COMPETITORS. IF THEY DON’T GRAB THE BEST CLOTHES, THEY DON’T MAKE MONEY.

05:47

Supplier cuts bale open. Retailers rush in and fight over clothes

Man: "Wait for me to finish cutting the bale. It’s because of this behaviour that I have to stand here."

05:55

Woman: "Emma, I will slap you and you’ll get a shock."

06:19

Woman porter carries clothing bale

Music

06:26

Aisha walks to collect bale from Asare

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: AISHA IS ON HER WAY TO COLLECT A BALE OF CLOTHES FROM ASARE, THE IMPORTER.

Asare: "You are here so when you take it, send it to the shop inside. Go, I'll come too. Hold it well."

06:35

Aisha carrying clothing bale

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: SHE’S A KAYAYEI OR HEAD PORTER.

AISHA IDDRISU: I was very young.

07:00

Aisha interview

If I can remember, I was about 12 years old. That' when I became a head porter.

07:08

Aisha carrying clothing bale through market

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: GHANA’S KAYAYEI WOMEN ARE USUALLY DISPLACED FROM THEIR VILLAGES IN THE NORTH OF THE COUNTRY BY CONFLICT OR UNEMPLOYMENT  

07:22

Aisha: "Look out, look out."

07:31

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: BUT EVEN IN ACCRA, AISHA IS LUCKY TO EARN FIVE DOLLARS A DAY.

07:36

Aisha interview

AISHA IDDRISU: Some days we don’t make money. Sometimes we come here for the whole day and don't make a penny.

07:44

Aisha carrying clothing bale through market

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THE BALE OF CLOTHING SHE’S CARRYING WEIGHS MORE THAN 50 KILOGRAMS. IT’S TOUGH AND DANGEROUS WORK.

07:49

Aisha interview

AISHA IDDRISU: Some days, I'm exhausted and sore and must take painkillers before bed.

08:00

Aisha carrying clothing bale through market

Some head porters break down and are sent back to the north due to their injuries and inability to work. This happens a lot.

08:04

Women porters collect bales

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THE TRADE IN USED CLOTHING IS ALSO RISKY FOR IMPORTERS. THEY PAY UP-FRONT AS MUCH AS $95,000 FOR A CONTAINER WITH NO GUARANTEE IF THE CLOTHES INSIDE IT ARE ANY GOOD.

08:30

Asare sorts through clothes

ASARE ASAMOAH: "These dead white man's clothes are very bad, it’s all spoiled."

MAN: "Yes, it’s the same everywhere."

ASARE ASAMOAH: It’s not easy. Sometimes

08:50

Asare interview

if you don’t have money to do this business, it’s not easy for you. Sometimes you’ve gone and bought something, then you don’t get what you want. Then you lose your money.

09:00

Asare examines clothes

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: ASARE IMPORTS AS MANY AS THREE MILLION ITEMS OF USED CLOTHING EVERY YEAR MOST OF IT FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM. WHEN HE FINDS WESTERN EXPORTERS WITH GOOD QUALITY CLOTHES, PROFITS ARE THERE FOR THE TAKING.

Asare:  "It looks ok."

09:12

Asare interview

ASARE ASAMOAH: So if you know inside that these goods is fine, that one you are going to buy it, then you get your profit. If you don't know that these goods is nice, you just bought anything, then you lose your money.

09:35

Clothing store in market

LINTON BESSER, Reporter:  ASARE ALSO SELLS HIS NEWLY IMPORTED ITEMS TO OTHER RETAILERS IN KANTAMANTO MARKET.

09:44

Linton to camera in market

"It looks like chaos but there's a method to this madness. These retailers are picking the finest clothes that have come in from the bale in order to be ready for market day."

09:55

Asare's at home with family

10:11

ASARE LIVES A FEW HOURS FROM THE CITY CENTRE. IN A GOOD YEAR IMPORTERS CAN TURN OVER $140,000.

10:17

ASARE ASAMOAH: So the money I get I don’t drop off, I just save some. So I just save it.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: ASARE ASAMOAH ATTRIBUTES HIS FAMILY’S SUCCESS TO DIVINE INTERVENTION.

10:27

Asare interview at home, dressing for church

ASARE ASAMOAH: And God has blessed what I’m doing. God’s grace living in this house. It’s a very big conflict between Sunday and my job. The clothes I sell, that one is somebody's culture, like a white man used to wear it when going to the office

10:42

Family leave for church

but this one is our own culture.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: TODAY IS SUNDAY, AND IN THIS DEEPLY RELIGIOUS COUNTRY IT’S A DAY FOR TRADITIONAL CLOTHING.

11:00

WESTERN CAST OFFS ARE SO CHEAP THAT LOCAL TEXTILE MAKERS CAN’T COMPETE.  SINCE THE 1980S, THEIR OUTPUT HAS FALLEN BY AS MUCH AS 75 PER CENT .

11:16

At church. Congregation sing and dance

Congregation: "Hallelujah. The Lord is here."

11:29

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: TRADITIONAL AFRICAN CLOTHING HAS NOW BECOME TOO EXPENSIVE FOR EVERYDAY WEAR.

11:37

Dusk, Accra GVs

Music

12:03

Market clean-up

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: EVERY EVENING, WITH THE MARKET’S CUSTOMERS HEADING HOME, A CLEAN-UP OPERATION BEGINS. ALLEYS FULL OF UNSALEABLE CLOTHING ARE SWEPT UP AND BUNDLED INTO SACKS READY FOR TOMORROW’S COLLECTION.

12:15

Police recruits

Police recruits:  "I will praise, I will praise Him. You will praise, you will praise Him."

12:47

Morning market activity. Waste collection

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THE NEXT MORNING THE SHEER VOLUME OF WASTE IS STAGGERING. BUT BEFORE IT’S EVEN BEEN DRIVEN AWAY…

Man: "Jeans for one Australian dollar. All jeans are a dollar."

12:56

Man selling jeans

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: …ANOTHER LOAD OF USED CLOTHING APPEARS AND IS PUT UP FOR SALE.

Man: "Jeans for one Australian dollar. All jeans are a dollar."

13:16

Waste collection

Music

13:24

Solomon driving

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: SOLOMON NOI IS THE CITY’S WASTE MANAGER .

13:33

Solomon interview

SOLOMON NOI: This place is serving as a dumping ground for textile waste in the name of second-hand clothing. Close to 40% of whatever shipment that are coming on a daily basis, ends up to be complete chaff of no value.

13:38

Waste collection

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: EVERY DAY THIS TRUCK IS FULL TO OVERFLOWING.

13:57

Waste truck to dump

Music

14:03

Linton to camera at dump

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: "There’s roughly six million garments every week that leave Kantamanto Market as waste. And a huge proportion of all of that clothing is trucked two hours north of Accra, and ends up being dumped as landfill."

14:28

Drone shots - dump

Music

14:45

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THE PRESSURE FROM THE USED CLOTHING INDUSTRY IS RELENTLESS. THE CITY OF ACCRA NOW HAS TO FIND SOMEWHERE TO DISPOSE OF MORE THAN 160 TONNES OF TEXTILE WASTE EVERY SINGLE DAY.

14:59

Kantamanto market

Music

15:15

Christiana looks at and buys clothes

Christiana: "Black black, we don’t like it. In Ghana we don't like black.

15:28

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: CHRISTIANA MANKO IS A RETAILER WHO SELLS HER STOCK OUTSIDE THE CITY.

15:35

Christiana: "Choose some for me to see, but you have to discount it because I'm taking them to the village.  How much do I owe you for everything? It's 29 dresses. How much will it be?"

15:40

Christiana carries clothes and boards bus to village

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: IT’S A HAND-TO-MOUTH EXISTENCE FOR THE SINGLE MOTHER OF THREE WHO TRAVELS FOR HOURS BETWEEN KANTAMANTO MARKET AND OUTLYING VILLAGES.

16:09

Music

16:20

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: SHE SAYS SHE FELL INTO THE TRADE AFTER HER BROTHER USED JUJU, OR SORCERY, TO FORCE HER OFF THE FAMILY FARM.  

16:30

Music

16:41

CHRISTIANA MANKO: I went to the hospital but they couldn’t work out what was wrong with me.

16:45

A neighbour told me to see a church pastor, which I did.

16:48

Christiana interview

And they revealed that juju was put on the land.  

16:56

Drone shot, village

That's why I left the village to come to the city.

17:01

Christiana to villages selling clothes

Music

17:07

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: SHE GOES FROM VILLAGE TO VILLAGE SELLING HER CLOTHES.

17:23

THESE TWO DOLLAR DRESSES ARE SOMETHING OF A LUXURY ITEM.

Christiana: "Sister this is nice, take it. You will look nicer in this dress than me."

17:37

LINTON BESSER, Reporter:  CHRISTIANA’S ARRIVAL IS A HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK.

Christiana: "This is also not bad, it’s very nice."

17:47

Christiana interview

It's good when you get to choose nice, quality dresses. You can double the price from 45 to 90 Australian cents.

17:59

Christiana walking through village selling clothes

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: BUT IT’S A PRECARIOUS ENTERPRISE, BECAUSE MANY OF HER CUSTOMERS INSIST ON BEING GRANTED CREDIT.

18:10

Christiana: "Sister, where's the money for the things you selected for Adu Kofi?"

Customer: "Adu Kofi is not here. When he returns, I will get you the money.

Christiana: "No, give me the money now. I don't like this behaviour. If all my customers behave like you, how can I buy more clothes? I don’t like your behaviour."

18:19

Christiana preparing food at home

LINTON BESSER, Reporter:  CHRISTIANA WORKS HARD TO CARE FOR HER FAMILY, BUT IT’S BECOMING HARDER BECAUSE THE BALES OF CLOTHING BEING IMPORTED INTO GHANA ARE ARRIVING IN WORSE AND WORSE CONDITION.

18:41

Christiana interview

CHRISTIANA: When you open it, you realise it’s all rubbish. Suppliers still collect every penny. They don't care if it's garbage.

18:58

Accra, monsoon winds and rain

Music

19:08

LINTON BESSER, Reporter:  IT’S MONSOON SEASON IN GHANA AND WHEN THESE FIERCE RAINS COME THE UNWANTED CLOTHING WASHES INTO THE CITY’S OPEN SEWERS AND CHOKES ITS WATERWAYS.  

19:23

SOLOMON NOI: You know, we are in the tropics, so we have very high precipitation in the form of rainfall.

19:40

Solomon interview/ Waterways choked with discarded clothing

So any heavy downpour of rain will gather all this uncollected waste into the storm drains, which are not covered anyway. And then it gets into the ocean. It means all these layers of textile waste that are stockpiling at the ocean bed will come up and mix. And that is what will choke the aquatic life in there.

19:46

Linton on beach with Liz amongst tangled clothes buried in sand

LIZ RICKETTS: Yeah, this is like dug into the ground. So when we’ve done clean-ups here, you can dig 15 feet and still find these tangles of clothing.

20:14

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: LIZ RICKETTS HAS SPENT THE PAST DECADE DOCUMENTING THE IMPACT OF CLOTHING WASTE ON GHANA.

LIZ RICKETTS: It also becomes really dangerous for people when they’re swimming,

20:24

because they’re like rolling back and forth, and it will hit them and then it also hits the fishermen’s boats and wraps around their motors.

20:33

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THE TEXTILES WHICH WASH BACK ONSHORE BECOME SO TANGLED IN THE SAND THEY'RE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO DIG OUT.  

20:43

LIZ RICKETTS: The tangled masses of clothing, we call them tentacles. So this is all tangled up and it’s harder for you to see, but when they wash up they’re very long, you know they can be eight feet to thirty feet and sometimes three feet wide.

20:54

Woman drags clothing 'tentacle' from sand

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THESE TENTACLES HAVE THEIR ORIGINS AT KANTAMANTO MARKET.

21:11

Clothing trade, Kantamanto market

Music

21:23

Linton visits with Emmanuel and examines contents of clothing bale

21:37

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: EMMANUEL AJAAB IS ANOTHER IMPORTER.

21:46

EMMANUEL AJAAB:  We are going to take this bale. This one. Yeah. This one is from Australia. We want to see what is inside. And it’s ladies’ summer jackets.

21:51

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: HE’S ONE OF THE FEW TO IMPORT USED CLOTHING FROM AUSTRALIA.

22:07

EMMANUEL AJAAB: Yeah. I’m going to open. We'll sort them into groups.

22:16

 LINTON BESSER, Reporter: UNTIL THEY OPEN THEIR BALES, IMPORTERS HAVE NO IDEA WHETHER THEY CONTAIN TRASH OR TREASURE.

EMMANUEL AJAAB: It’s nice, blue. So this one is going like this. Top quality…Here. We can’t wear this one.

22:23

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: So that one is going to be rubbish?

EMMANUEL AJAAB: Yes this is the rubbish. And this one, too. Quality second.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: Okay. 

22:36

EMMANUEL AJAAB: You can't wear it. This one is going to rubbish.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: And also look, it's got a stain here.

EMMANUEL AJAAB: It’s no good.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter:  It’s no good.

EMMANUEL AJAAB: It’s no good. It’s no good.

22:47

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: EMMANUEL AND HIS COLLEAGUES DESPAIR AT THE GROWING NUMBER OF LOW-QUALITY CLOTHES ARRIVING IN GHANA.  

22:55

"What do you think of this one?"

23:03

EMMANUEL AJAAB: See how it is dirty. From here all like this.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: It’s sweat.

EMMANUEL AJAAB: You should not put it in the bale. It's like an insult.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: It’s an insult?

EMMANUEL AJAAB: It is an insult.  

23:04

Emmanuel interview

In Europe and UK and Australia, America, they think Africa here, we are not like a human beings. Sorry use this, but what they are giving to us is like even if somebody knock your door and you want help, you cannot just giving, picking something from your dustbin and give to the person. So in this case it's like they are doing this to us.

23:18

Linton and Emmanuel examine clothes

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THIS BALE COST EMMANUEL $92.

23:48

EMMANUEL AJAAB: This ones are the ones you can sell.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: AFTER SORTING THE WHOLE BALE HE CAN SEE HE’S GOING TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT LOSS ON THESE AUSTRALIAN CLOTHES.

23:54

EMMANUEL AJAAB: Seven. Seven pieces in the bale.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: And how many altogether in a bale?

EMMANUEL AJAAB: This one, 180 to 200 pieces in the bale. And you find seven pieces. Very bad.

24:07

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: So at the end of today, where will you put that?

EMMANUEL AJAAB: We’re going to throw them away.

24:22

Drone shot. Monsoon clouds over Accra

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THE PROBLEM IS THERE’S NO ROOM ANYWHERE IN ACCRA LEFT TO THROW THEM.   

24:31

Linton to camera at landfill site

"This massive carefully engineered landfill was meant to be solution to Accra’s waste crisis. It should have provided enough capacity for 15 years, but once it started accepting clothing waste from Kantamanto Market, it was filled to overflowing within just five."

24:39

Drone shot. Linton walks at landfill site

Music

25:03

Liz and Linton walk at Fadama dump

25:15

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: NOW THE CITY’S ONLY ALTERNATIVE IS A GROWING NETWORK OF INFORMAL, UNREGULATED DUMPS.

25:26

LIZ RICKETTS: So a lot of the waste is brought here by informal collectors who pick it up at the end of the day.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: LIKE THIS ONE ON THE EDGE OF OLD FADAMA, THE CITY’S BIGGEST SLUM.  

25:37

Liz and Linton sift through clothes

"Doesn’t look there’s anything wrong with them at all."

SYNTHETIC TEXTILES CAN TAKE HUNDREDS OF YEARS TO DECOMPOSE.

25:53

Drone shot over dump

THIS MOUNTAIN OF WASTE MAY CAST ITS FOETID SHADOW OVER THESE NEIGHBOURHOODS FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

26:02

Liz and Linton, interview at dump

LIZ RICKETTS: I think, unfortunately, what happens is that the waste -- they are blamed for the waste.

26:21

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THE PEOPLE OF OLD FADAMA ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS PROBLEM, BUT THEY ARE FORCED TO LIVE WITH IT.

26:26

LIZ RICKETTS: This waste ends up in places like this, where it's used to further disenfranchise people who are already living in poverty to blame them for waste that they did not create.

26:33

Drone shots over Fadama

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: WHILE ALL CONSUMERS BEAR SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS WASTE CRISIS LIZ RICKETTS LAYS MUCH OF THE BLAME AT THE DOOR OF THE WORLD’S BIG FASHION HOUSES.

26:48

Liz and Linton, interview at dump

LIZ RICKETTS: Really it's brands. It's brands that are over producing. Waste is a part of the business model of fashion. A lot of brands overproduce by up to 40%.

26:59

Burning landfill

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: So when did they start burning this?

LIZ RICKETTS: At least three weeks ago.

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: MUCH OF THE UNWANTED CLOTHING IS SIMPLY BURNED.

27:08

Plumes of smoke from burning

Music

27:22

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: IT’S NOT UNUSUAL FOR ACCRA’S SKY TO BLACKEN WITH SMOKE FOR DAYS AT A TIME.

27:26

Music

27:34

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: BUT FOR MANY WHO LIVE IN OLD FADAMA, INCLUDING AISHA IDDRISU, THE FLOW OF SECOND-HAND CLOTHING INTO GHANA HAS BEEN A LIFELINE.

28:09

Aisha interview

AISHA IDDRISU: I am trying to put some money aside as savings.

28:23

Music

28:33

Aisha in living quarters with women and children

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: THERE ARE OTHER PROBLEMS WHICH ARE SIMPLY MORE PRESSING. AISHA LIVES IN THIS SMALL WINDOWLESS ROOM WITH FOUR OTHER WOMEN AND ALL THEIR WORLDLY BELONGINGS.

28:40

Aisha bathes son

AISHA IDDRISU: Business has been slow. Even if I make four Australian dollars a day, it's not enough for daily expenses.

28:58

LINTON BESSER, Reporter: SO PERHAPS IT’S FOR THE WEST INSTEAD TO THINK MORE CAREFULLY ABOUT THE QUALITY OF WHAT WE DONATE.

29:03

Solomon interview/ Drone shot over landfill

SOLOMON NOI: I'm not sure they've ever been conscious to ask where is the final destination of that thing they are discarding. But if they come here, like you've come, and you see the practicality for yourself, then they will know that, no, we better take care of these things within our country and not to ship the problem to other peoples.

29:15

Kantamanto market, plumes of smoke in background. Credits [see below]

Music

29:35

Out point

29:56