Making circularity work in the real world

In two recent articles in the Financial Times they highlight the critical issue of fashion and textile waste. And, as a society, we must tackle the environmental damage caused by the fashion industry’s relentless overproduction.

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is an important tool to hold brands accountable for the full lifecycle of their products.

As a representative of the second-hand clothes trade in Ghana, I support the idea that EPR funds should “follow the flow of garments”. But EPR schemes in the EU and beyond must reflect the realities of global textile reuse and support what already works.

The second-hand clothing trade is the most established and scalable solution to textile overproduction and waste, and this is as true in Ghana as anywhere else. Global reuse keeps garments in circulation longer, reduces demand for new production and stops clothing from being sent to landfill or incineration too soon.

Europe generates far more used clothing than it can reuse domestically and, in countries like ours, demand is very strong for these goods. In Ghana, this trade not only meets essential clothing needs but also directly supports the livelihoods of approximately 2.5mn people, especially benefiting women and youth through job creation and entrepreneurship.

Policies that treat exports as waste by default, or restrict the flow of reusable clothing, risk undermining both environmental and social benefits. Policymakers, brands and consumers must embrace the global value of reuse and ensure garments continue to flow where they are both needed and valued.

This isn’t just about cutting waste — it’s about making circularity work in the real world, from Brussels to Accra.

Edward Atobrah Binkley General Secretary of the Ghana Used Clothing Dealers Association, Accra, Ghana 

“Solving fashion’s waste problem”, Report, FT Weekend, May 31

“Fast fashion stuck in production-consumption rut”, Special Reports, May 22