Western shame on show! &#8211; Huge billboards with second-hand clothes highlight textile &#8216;dumping ground&#8217;

Article by Viory

In Accra, billboards are being repurposed to expose the scale of second-hand clothing waste, amid rising concerns that Africa is being used as a dumping ground for discarded textiles from Europe and the United States.

Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku, the multidisciplinary artist and civil engineer, behind the project, said it’s designed to confront people with a crisis that is usually hidden.

“By putting discarded clothes on billboards, we are inverting that,” he said. “Traditionally, billboards are used to sell dreams and aspirations. We are saying whether you want it or not, this is what you get and this is what you see.”

“Putting waste there, it no longer becomes a dream or something far removed from society. It is now very, very close to you, and you feel the weight of it,” he added.

The installations draw attention to the scale of Ghana’s textile waste problem, where the Kantamanto Market receives millions of second-hand clothing items each week, many imported from Europe and the United States.

A significant proportion of these garments never find buyers, with research suggesting up to 40 per cent end up as waste, often clogging drains, landfills, and coastal areas.

At the Jamestown Beach, mountains of textile waste are seen choking the coastline and floating in the Atlantic Ocean.

Environmental experts warn that discarded clothing can release microplastics, chemicals and greenhouse gases, especially when dumped in landfills or the sea. There are also concerns that marine life may ingest the waste, creating a cycle that ultimately affects human health.

Article by Viory