The EU has adopted new rules on textile classification, sorting and shipments, while pursuing international controls through the Basel Convention. Yet the evidence still does not establish how much second-hand clothing is exported as unusable waste.

EU rules could reshape the global second-hand clothing trade. But after months of questions, the European Commission has not provided Reuse News with robust evidence establishing the scale of unusable clothing exported as reusable goods.

A field investigation in Ghana found little evidence of large-scale accumulations of imported textile waste at locations frequently cited in public debate. The findings raise broader questions about how evidence is shaping textile policy, trade regulation and reuse systems.