Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Why your recycled clothes could end up in this South American desert
Created in 1975 to boost economic and social development in northern Chile,
the Iquique Free Trade Zone (ZOFRI) is a major duty-free commercial and
industrial hub. It offers businesses 100% exemption from corporate tax, customs
duties, and value-added tax (VAT) on first sales to boost regional development.
Used clothes from all over the world are among the biggest imports in ZOFRI. Once
landed, they are sorted and then sold locally or exported to other countries in
Latin America, which creates considerable local businesses and employment. Unsold
clothes are supposed to be sold to an authorised waste company, but not all are.
Some are burnt illegally, and others are dumped in the surrounding Atacama
Desert, the oldest and driest sand desert, whose surreal, Mars-like landscapes
attract many tourists. It is estimated that nearly 40,000 tonnes of such unsold
clothes are illegally dumped in the desert each year. But help is on the way. A
new factory is being built to turn the clothes into fibers, and then into felt
to be used for mattresses, furniture, and insulation. Also, the government is going
to include textiles in the Extended Producer Responsibility Law, which makes
the sellers responsible for the lifespan of their products. No one wants the
Atacama Desert to become a dump site.
Read the article and learn what happens to unsold clothes at the end.
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