'This is no dumping ground': NZ exporting thousands of tonnes of second

Donating unwanted clothes may feel charitable, but after they go into the clothing bin, where do they end up? WEI SHAO reports.

It's "a lucky draw", says Kessie Pawa as she describes sorting through a bale of second-hand clothes.

The mother of four lives on Lihir Island in Papua New Guinea's New Ireland province and for the past two decades she has been ordering bales of clothes to sell in front of her house or in villages in the mining area.

Exactly where the clothes come from is not known but it's likely they were left in a clothing bin, donated by someone having a clear out or wanting to do their bit.

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"It's a good business, but needs a bit of luck," she said.

Pawa pays 690 Papua New Guinean Kina (PGK) (NZ$313) for a 50kg bale, but they are of mixed quality, so she doesn't know what she's going to get.

She buys the clothes from a dealer in Lae – the largest cargo port in the country – but 20% to 30% is "poor quality and thus not re-sellable".

"I sort them out and price each piece. I sell men's jeans for 55 PGK ($24.90), and polo shirts for 30 PGK ($13.16)," she says.

"It would be my lucky day if I could find 10 quality pieces from a bale."

She orders two bales of adult clothes and two bales of children's clothes every three weeks.

"As it's a mining area, men's jeans, work boots and polo shirts sell out very fast."

In Christchurch's Merivale, a sticker on a clothing bin states: "All good clothing will be reused again either in New Zealand or Papua New Guinea."

Pawa knew the second-hand clothes came from Australia, but did not know they also come from New Zealand.

Thousands of tonnes of second-hand clothes are exported from New Zealand to Papua New Guinea every year.

In 2022, 5469 tonnes of worn clothes were exported to Papua New Guinea, a slight decrease from 5902 tonnes in 2019, according to Stats NZ.

The influx of second-hand clothing provides jobs, but also hinders development, says Yaku Ninich, a clothes designer from Papua New Guinea who has been in the fashion industry for over 10 years.

"We are getting way more than we need. The behaviour (used clothing exports to Papua New Guinea) should change because we are making our own clothes right now."

At least 30% of those second-hand bales were "in very poor condition".

"They would not even put that out, or sell to New Zealand citizens", Ninich says.

Besides old clothes with stains and rips, used underwear, bras and underskirts have been "passed on" to Papua New Guinea's consumers in the bales, which "raises issues of human dignity and should be banned".

"This is no dumping ground.

"I hate to say this, but there are so many poor people. They want to earn the extra cash. Even though they don't like it, they take them, wash them and re-wear them."

Living in between Papua New Guinea and the United States, Ninich started her fashion business in 2013 to promote the country's unique designs.

She says she wouldn't mind getting a good piece from a second-hand store herself, but the store "should do the right thing of sorting and selling" it.

The local fashion industry started to develop in about 2018, she says. In Port Moresby, nearly 40% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are in the clothing business.

"I call them ‘one-woman business’. We are trying to self-sustain because we have access to the fabric from China.

"They are not in good quality, but affordable for local SME women who can sew and sell at their house, a roadside market, or in the villages."

As the burgeoning fashion industry is "more catered to women's clothing", second-hand menswear is "very overpriced because there is a need".

"A pair of used, long cargo pants for men are priced at 100 PGK ($45). It's ridiculous.

"Second-hand clothing maintains the status quo. It doesn't help the poor get richer, it just keeps things as they are at the moment.

"Your T-shirt may be quite cheap for someone to buy, but it would be better if that person could buy a locally manufactured t-shirt, so the money stays within the economy and that helps generate jobs," she said.

Clothing retail sales in New Zealand have increased over the past five years.

The amount spent on clothing and footwear has increased from $3.95 billion in 2019 to $4.5b in 2022, according to Statistics NZ.

Although the increase in clothings sales in New Zealand does not describe the volume of clothing sold, the increase is in line with the amount of second-hand clothing being exported to Papua New Guinea.

Wintec Te Pūkenga researcher Rebekah Harman said the textile industry globally is behind the times when it comes to recycling.

"At the end of the day not everything can be re-used or turned into rags that you use around the house. So, what can you do at the end of a garment's life?

"Until recently this has been a real sticking point, and one we don't address well in New Zealand," she says.

Second-hand fashion is a fast-growing market, estimated to be worth about US$100b (NZ$157b) globally and growing by more than 20% annually.

Over 175,000 tonnes of textile waste goes to landfill every year in New Zealand.

In 2022, 6.32% of Christchurch's waste was clothing and fabrics, according to Ged Clink, a senior project manager at the Christchurch City Council.

"The clothing bins across the city are charity bins, they are not run by council," Clink says.

The council accepts small amounts of good quality second-hand clothing at its EcoDrop Recycling Centres, which are then sold as its EcoShop.

Stuff requested details from New Zealand Customs about the individual exporters but was denied because the information could prejudice the commercial position of the suppliers.