A mountain of over 39,000 tons of clothing waste as seen from space.

Chile: A massive landfill containing "fast fashion " clothing in the Atacama Desert is so large that it can be clearly observed by satellites.

Satellite imagery reveals a massive mountain of clothing waste in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. Photo: Skyfi — Satellite imagery reveals a massive mountain of clothing waste in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile. Photo: *Skyfi*

The Atacama Desert in Chile has a constantly expanding "clothing graveyard." These are discarded or unworn garments, mostly manufactured in Bangladesh or China and shipped to retail stores in the US, Europe, and Asia, before being brought to Chile when they don't sell, Business Insider reported on May 23.

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At least 39,000 tons of such clothing accumulated in the Atacama Desert in 2021, according to AFP. These were mostly "fast fashion"—cheap, quickly produced clothing following the latest trends.

SkyFi, a developer of satellite imagery and video applications, shared high-resolution satellite images of this clothing graveyard on May 11th. "The image has a resolution of 50 cm, classified as Very High Resolution, and was captured by satellite. It shows just how massive this mountain of garbage is compared to the city below," SkyFi wrote.

These clothes aren't sent to city landfills because they're not biodegradable and often contain chemical residues, according to Franklin Zepeda, founder of EcoFibra, a company that works to reuse clothing by creating insulation panels.

A pile of unused clothing lies near the port of Iquique, about 1.6 km from some of the poorer neighborhoods of Iquique. The dump sometimes attracts migrants and local women who come to search for items they can wear or sell.

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The fast fashion industry contributes 2% to 8% of the world 's carbon emissions, according to the United Nations in 2018. A 2019 Insider article stated that nearly 85% of clothing is discarded each year, and fashion production consumes a large amount of water, polluting rivers and streams. The British organization Ellen McArthur estimates that approximately one truckload of clothing is burned and sent to landfills every second.

Thu Thao (According to Business Insider )

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