Fast fashion is causing an environmental disaster in Chile's Atacama Desert.
Some 59,000 tons of unwanted clothing arrive in Chile each year from places like Europe,Asia and the United States.But because it is illegal to dump them in landfills,they often end up in places like the Atacama Desert in the north of the country,where they harm the environment.
The clothes that are considered trash are picked up in trucks and dumped onto a massive landfill,right in the backyard of a poor municipality called Alto Hospicio.That's about 6 miles south of Iquique into the Atacama Desert,and it's home to some of the poorest residential neighborhoods in northern Chile.
It is unclear who is in charge of hiring the vehicles.The trucks usually come at night,when it's easier to hide.
The Chilean government doesn't allow clothes in landfills,so many of the clothes end up in the desert.It's illegal to dump there too,but the authorities do little about it.
About 100,000 tons of clothes are on fire in the landfill sometimes.City workers dump sand on the burning clothes to try to contain the flames.Toxic smoke from the burning clothes reaches into nearby communities,polluting the air.It is difficult for the residents to breathe,and they are forced to stay home with the windows closed.
Some fabrics can take up to 200 years to biodegrade.
There are no legal places in Chile to dump clothes.-Tibisay Zea,PRI,The World,November 1,2022
