When German Cabinet members Hubertus Heil and Sonja Schulze visited one of the world’s largest secondhand marketplaces in Ghana, they saw firsthand the massive amounts of old clothing imported to West Africa from industrialized nations each week.
Mountains of second-hand clothing and textile waste that arrive in the country from overseas present complications for local manufacturers while also causing environmental issues.
Every week, 100 containers with around 15 million products arrive at the market visited by the ministers.
“I think you also have to raise awareness among consumers,” German Labour Minister Hubertus Heil said in Accra during the ministers’ five-day visit to the region.
Heil believes that consumers should think more about what they buy. Many people with better incomes in Western countries frequently buy goods they don’t truly need, he continued.
While consumers might buy more carefully, it was also on to governments and businesses to address the issue, according to Germany’s labour minister.
According to Heil, the German government is assisting the European Commission in the development of a new supply chain law. It states, among other things, that businesses must take extra care to guarantee that their finished products do not cause substantial difficulties, such as recycled material or garbage.
After a long battle, Germany’s new Supply Chain Act went into effect at the beginning of the year. Businesses are now required to guarantee that human rights are maintained throughout the manufacturing process, with heightened reporting requirements and penalties for infractions.
Yet, according to Heil, that law did not address difficulties produced by the finished product.
Heil and German Development Minister Schulze are expected to go to Ivory Coast on Wednesday to tour a cocoa farm as part of their five-day trip to promote improved working conditions and less environmental damage.
