In October, Liz Ricketts, co-founder and executive director of The Or Foundation, traveled from Ghana to California for Textile Exchange’s annual meeting. She brought with her an unusual display: a six-foot-long “tentacle” made of twisted fabric, weighing 30 pounds. The fabric, one-fifth of a much larger structure, had become a familiar feature along Ghana’s beaches, often merging with the sand and requiring manual labor to remove. It symbolized the growing crisis of clothing waste impacting West Africa, driven by the global fashion industry’s overconsumption.
“We did the calculations,” Ricketts said. “It would take over 2,500 people to remove one of these tentacles in the time it takes our team to clean a beach in just three to four hours.” The tentacle, a tangible representation of the problem, helped bring attention to the often abstract conversation about clothing waste, particularly in the global North.
Ricketts’ nonprofit, The Or Foundation, has been tackling the issue of discarded garments in Accra, Ghana, since 2019. Accra is home to Kantamanto Market, a sprawling secondhand clothing market, where millions of items arrive weekly from the U.S., Europe, and Australia. However, around 40% of these clothes are deemed unsellable and end up as waste. The foundation works to prevent these clothes from ending up in the city’s streets, drains, and beaches, or being burned in informal bonfires. Since expanding its efforts, The Or Foundation has successfully removed 125 truckloads of clothing waste, though the problem remains vast.
The foundation’s clean-up efforts have grown increasingly organized, and their data-driven approach has begun to highlight the brands most responsible for contributing to the waste. In its first annual report, “Tag Ur It,” The Or Foundation identified the top 11 clothing brands whose products were most frequently found among the discarded garments: Marks & Spencer, Next, Adidas, Nike, Gap, Primark, George by Asda, F&F by Tesco, H&M, Boohoo, and Tu by Sainsbury’s.
This report has provided evidence to challenge brands that deny their responsibility in the waste crisis. For example, H&M’s CEO previously stated that the company’s products never end up in landfills but are instead recycled or reused. The Or Foundation, however, has documented numerous instances where H&M clothing was found discarded in Accra. Other brands, like Asda, initially questioned the findings, but after receiving evidence from The Or Foundation, acknowledged their role in the issue.
Despite the data, many brands continue to downplay their responsibility. Marks & Spencer and Next, ranked as the top offenders, have declined to engage with the foundation’s efforts. Ricketts argues that companies cannot claim to be committed to sustainability if they do not publicly disclose their production volumes. “Without a cap on new production, you’re pretending to be sustainable while continuing to increase waste,” she said.
The Or Foundation is also advocating for more transparency in the industry. Brands like Zara, which report production by weight instead of units, make it difficult to understand the true scale of their environmental impact. Ricketts believes that a standard for reporting production volume is essential for a meaningful transition to a circular economy.
The foundation’s work has expanded beyond clean-up efforts. On Black Friday, they partnered with Vestiaire Collective, a luxury resale platform, to sell upcycled clothing made from materials collected from Kantamanto. The Or Foundation also staged a public protest in London, where British artist Jeremy Hutchison, disguised under a pile of discarded clothes, performed as a “living zombie” outside a Marks & Spencer store, drawing attention to the industry’s waste.
Ricketts argues that the fashion industry’s overproduction is the root cause of the waste crisis. Ghana is the world’s largest importer of used clothing, much of which ends up in the hands of female porters, known as “kayayei,” who carry heavy loads through the market. The work is grueling, with many women suffering from neck and back injuries due to the weight of the clothes.
While The Or Foundation’s clean-ups continue, Ricketts acknowledges the systemic nature of the problem. “No matter how much we remove, the waste keeps coming,” she said. “The industry needs to pause and rethink its overproduction.” Until brands curb their output and take responsibility for their waste, the cycle of pollution will continue to worsen.
For Ricketts, this includes holding brands accountable for their role in global waste, urging them to publicly disclose production numbers and support communities affected by their discarded products. “The circular economy cannot work if the market continues to be flooded with new products,” she said. “It’s time for the industry to step up and address its role in this crisis.”
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