Clothing incinerated to fuel Cambodian brick kilns

LONDON – A joint investigation by the Daily Mail and Unearthed, Greenpeace’s journalism arm, has discovered that garment waste from major high street fashion brands is being incinerated in Cambodia to fuel brick kilns. It was found that warehouses are burning used clothing for fuel as it is cheaper than wood. Garment waste from Nike, Reebok, H&M, Michael Kors, Diesel, Next, River Island and Ralph Lauren were found among the mountain of offcuts awaiting incineration.

The investigation found tags, labels, footwear, fabric and garment scraps from major fashion brands at five different kilns alongside evidence that kilns were using garment waste in their fires. 

To manufacture bricks workers move dried slabs of clay by hand into the kilns, where they burn for a couple of days in temperatures reaching up to 650°C. To maintain such heat, the kilns need to stay fired, and workers burn fuel – in some instances a mix of garment waste and wood – around the clock. 

Often associated with plumes of black, choking smoke, the incineration of garment waste, which commonly contains toxic chemicals, endangers the health of vulnerable kiln workers. Health impacts include coughs, colds, flus, nose bleeds and lung inflammation. 

It is also exacerbating the carbon footprint of clothes destined for Europe and the US, despite commitments to cut emissions from clothing manufacturers. 

“The burning of acrylic garments, especially when combined with plastic bags, hangers, rubber and other waste as occurs in Cambodia, releases plastic microfibres and other toxic chemicals into the immediate environment which compromise the health of workers and neighbours on a short and long term basis. The human impacts, in particular, are substantially worse than burning wood and have been highlighted in a recent UK parliamentary report as a major problem in the industry,” said Dr Laurie Parsons of UK’s Royal Holloway University. Parsons co-authored a seminal 2018 report exposing the practice of garment incineration in Cambodian kilns. 

Major brands said that burning garment waste in this way would be against their protocols, that the claims would be investigated and that they expected their partners and suppliers to comply with strict codes of practice.

A Clarks spokesperson stated, “we are conducting a thorough investigation and believe we have identified the potential source. We believe this incident to be an exceptional occurrence. Our ongoing investigation has led us to believe that in accordance with our code of practice for suppliers, waste from the relevant Cambodian factories was provided to a government-approved waste services company.”

A Michael Kors spokesperson said, “we strive to produce our products in an environmentally responsible manner, and to partner with suppliers to reduce emissions, waste and other environmental impacts of our products” and “will reiterate to our suppliers our expectations around proper collection and disposal of garment waste.”

A Next spokesperson said: “under clause 8.5 of the Next Standard Terms and Conditions of Purchase, suppliers cannot dispose of rejected, seconds, excess, samples or cancelled stock unless stock is sold through the Next clearance routes … it appears this breach could possibly have taken place due to their suppliers in Cambodia not adhering to the policy.”

OTB Group, the parent organisation for Diesel, explained: “OTB constantly monitors the supply chain … the brand is no longer producing garments in Cambodia at the moment.” They added: “No evidence has emerged on the subject from the recent internal review we carried out with our former and only supplier active in the Country in 2020/2021.”   

The Cambodian brick sector, which had been feeding Cambodia’s construction boom until the Covid-19 pandemic, has become infamous for human rights abuses, including debt-bondage – half of all victims of forced labour are trapped in debt bondage according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). In 2016, the organisation estimated that worldwide 16 million people were subjected to forced labour by private entities.