Chile's Textile Waste Solution: Shredding Fashion Graveyard

0:00It's April 19th. I'm Cory with the story. This is Global News, driven by AI and built for a global audience. Chile imports 123,000 tons of used clothes every year, mostly through the free trade zone any week. A lot of that second-hand gear from the US, Europe, and Asia doesn't sell. So it ends up illegally dumped in the Otacama Desert, creating massive piles of waste. The zone, called Zofri, boosts the local economy by giving jobs to thousands, especially women sorting the clothes by quality. But unsold stuff can't hit the local landfill, so shady traders burn or dump it to dodge costs like taxes or proper recycling. Local officials in places like Alto Hospicio are frustrated, patrolling deserts and finding dumpers, but with so many trucks they just can't keep up. It's turned the barren landscape into what some call a fashion graveyard, harming the environment big time. Now a new law, called Extended Producer Responsibility, is kicking in for textiles, making importers handle the end of life mess.

1:03In response, Turkish-born businessman, Bakeer Conquer, is building a $7 million factory near Alto Hospicio to process 20 tons a day. This spot will shred clothes into fibers and fill for mattresses, car interiors, and insulation, no water or chemicals needed. It could clean up the desert dumps and turn waste into profit across Chile and beyond.