The Graveyard of Old Clothes in Chile's Atacama Desert

We have long heard of "car graveyards," but now we must confront a graveyard for old clothes. In the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, tons of used garments are dumped every single year, turning the arid landscape into a wasteland of discarded fashion.

Whether in the UK or North America, when old clothes are dropped off at recycling banks, there is a significant chance they will eventually end up in the Atacama.

Chile is one of the largest importers of used clothing in South America. However, garments that cannot be resold have been piled into massive heaps across the uninhabited, dry plains for years. In response to a change in legislation, a local private company is finally taking steps to address this environmental crisis.
The Trade Gateway: Iquique Free Trade Zone

According to government statistics, Chile imports 123,000 tons of used clothing annually. The primary gateway is the Iquique Free Trade Zone (Zofri) in the north. Businesses in this city and its surrounding areas can import, store, and sell products without paying customs duties or VAT.

Established in 1975 to accelerate the economic and social development of northern Chile, Zofri has seen used clothing become one of its major imports. Bales of clothes arrive in shipping containers from the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, to be sold locally or exported to other Latin American countries.

Felipe González, General Manager of Zofri, notes that approximately 50 clothing importers contribute significantly to the local economy. He adds that this sector provides the highest employment rate for local women in the region, with nearly 10% of the population working in textiles. 

According to González, women help sort the clothes into different categories based on quality. Since it does not require high technical skills, it remains an accessible job for those with fewer qualifications.
From Markets to Wastelands

The lowest-quality garments eventually find their way to a massive open-air market called "La Quebradilla," located near the town of Alto Hospicio. It is about a half-hour drive from Iquique and still falls under the Zofri jurisdiction.

At this market, countless clothes are piled on plastic sheets under rows of tents. Stallholders sell everything from T-shirts to jeans at incredibly low prices, starting from just 500 Chilean Pesos (approx. 54 cents or 42 pence). Tourists and locals flock here to hunt for bargains, especially during weekends.

While this trade stimulates the local economy and creates jobs, a massive problem looms: what happens to the clothes that don't sell? These items cannot be disposed of in local council landfills, as those facilities are reserved for household waste, not commercial imports. Consequently, the surplus is dumped in the desert, creating an environmental graveyard that persists for decades.
Consequently, traders are faced with a choice: export the rejected garments, pay the necessary taxes to sell them outside the free trade zone, or send them to an authorized waste management facility.

All of these options involve significant costs. To avoid these expenses, dishonest traders often illegally burn the clothes or dump them in the nearby Atacama Desert. It is estimated that approximately 39,000 tons of clothing are discarded illegally there every year.

This has become a major headache for the Alto Hospicio city administration. According to Miguel Paenenahuel, who works in the city’s planning department, monitoring and stopping these illegal activities is an uphill battle.

Since Alto Hospicio is surrounded by vast desert and hills, it is incredibly easy for trucks or lorries to drive out and dump the clothing. While the city council utilizes patrols equipped with vehicles and cameras to monitor the area and fine offenders, Miguel admits that the volume of trucks dumping waste is so high that it is nearly impossible to control.
A Sustainable Solution

However, a potential solution has emerged that turns waste clothing into a business opportunity.

Luis Martinez is the Executive Director of the Circular Economy Technology Center (CircularTec), a private Chilean organization that promotes recycling and resource recovery. Martinez recently led a project investigating how unsold old clothes could be reconstructed and reused.

"We do not want the Atacama Desert to be known as a tourist attraction where visitors come to see mountains of clothes," Martinez stated.

He highlighted a new factory currently under construction designed specifically to find new uses for unwanted garments. He added that this facility will be capable of handling a massive portion of the discarded textile stockpiles.

Located in the hot, windy desert about 20 minutes from Alto Hospicio, the facility is designed to operate sustainably without the need for water or chemicals.
The factory owner, Bakir Konkar, a Turkish national, explained: "We will use machinery that transforms rejected garments back into fibers. These will then be converted into felt—a type of textile material that can be used in mattresses, furniture, car interiors, and insulation."

 (Source: BBC)