Watch CBS News

U.S. exports of used clothing creating waste nightmare

Name: U.S. exports of used clothing creating waste nightmare
Uploaded: 2021-09-16T07:30:10-0400
Duration: 5 min 25 s
Description: Over one and half billion pounds of used clothing are exported from America each year and some of it ends up in Ghana. CBS Foriegn Correspondent Debora Patta follows that clothing to Accra's Kantamanto Market where much is upcycled and resold, but as more clothing arrives than the country can handle, Patta sees how an estimated 40% ends up rotting in landfills creating an environmental disaster.

Over one and half billion pounds of used clothing are exported from America each year and some of it ends up in Ghana. CBS Foriegn Correspondent Debora Patta follows that clothing to Accra's Kantamanto Market where much is upcycled and resold, but as more clothing arrives than the country can handle, Patta sees how an estimated 40% ends up rotting in landfills creating an environmental disaster.