For a week in January 2012 I volunteered to install and invigilate at the compelling Everything Must Go exhibition at the Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf. Find out more on this exhibition via Waste of the World.
I became curious of the bad quality of the emergency aid blankets that are produced in Panipat, India and want to find out why they are produced in this way.
The blankets feel greasy, rough and dirty - these aren't what you'd wish for with emergency aid and blankets.
Emergency Aid blankets
'The most lucrative export market comprises the international aid agencies' emergency wool blankets, of which over 90% comes from Panipat. These are delivered to regional depots in Africa and Asia for stockpiling, or transported directly to disaster zones. Major aid agencies aim to procure good quality stocks from reputable companies operating factories with good labour and environmental conditions. However, sub-contracting arrangements may make it difficult to track their origins.'Now I wonder what is being done to revise this matter. I haven't found a lot.
Firstly, let's break it down.
The 'shoddy' aid blankets are produced from mixed fiber composites. These fibers will have come from exports, possibly the UK. Second hand garments that aren't resold for use can be sold for an alternate reuse elsewhere, for example, Panipat in India. It is legal to export the second hand garments as long as they are mutilated before they cross the Indian border. These mutilated imports provide a source of raw material for India's wool industry.
Let me introduce the 'shoddy' aspect that I discovered while working at Everything Must Go.
A general lack of reliable statistics and transparent pathways in a rapidly expanding market prevents upstream stakeholders (eg charities) from being able to take sufficient corporate responsibility for the downstream effects of their economic activities.
The current conditions in the Indian recycling industry are an example of the potentially damaging effects of this trade maintained by this lack of transparency. (Ironically, international aid agencies are one of the principle buyers of those shoddy blankets produced for the export market, unintentionally framing
an exploitative recycled commodity chain at both the front and back ends.)
• For example, developing initiatives that support the capture and retention of a greater proportion of the value in used clothing for socially constructive aims could prove to be an important incentive to counter the attractions of selling old clothes directly to recyclers, and encourage donations to charity shops.
• Can alternative models for recycling textiles in a sustainable fashion be found for the surplus generated in the UK? Could improvements be implemented in the Indian industry to support the workers dependant upon it, and how might these be piloted and introduced? Worn Clothing
http://www.wornclothing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/SummaryShoddy.pdf
The above information from Worn Clothing leads me to conclude with questions.
What can be done for the Indian Textile Industry workers? How can improvements be made to support them?
Can the surplus of second hand clothing be managed in the UK or its origin? Why do we export to countries that aren't fully educated in how to manage our generated surplus? Where is the ethical consideration?
I've found out it's not only humanity and human rights that are being affected. It is also the environment due to poor management and harmful methods for handling the surplus.
My investigation continues.
