When fashion brand, Zara arrived in New York at the beginning of 1990, the New York Times coined the term "fast fashion" to describe the brand's assertion that it would only take 15 days for a product to go from design to shelf. Allegedly the brand uses the same principle today: make speed and low cost a driving force. Equally has become disposal. Today, 39,000 tons of discarded fast fashion are being left in dumps in Chile's Atacama, and an estimated 60% of a 65 feet pile in a landfill on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana.
Comparatively, global plastic production, consumption, and waste generation are all increasing quickly; such that production doubled to 460 million tonnes between 2000 & 2019, representing a 100% increase. Plastic consumption has as well quadrupled over the past 30 years, representing an increase of more than 200% from 2000 to 2019 (OECD figures).
Global plastic waste generation more than doubled from 2000 to 2019 to 353 million tonnes, representing a 100% increase over that period. Amid this, Africa and Asia will experience the fastest growth, though OECD nations will still produce significantly more plastic waste per person (238 kg annually on average) than non-OECD nations (77 kg).
Let's exemplify with a popular plastic brand. Coca-Cola revealed that it produces 3 million tonnes of plastic packaging a year, which is equivalent to 200,000 bottles a minute. This translated into about 108 billion 500ml PET plastic bottles per year, which is more than a fifth of the world's total output of 500 billion bottles per year. Further, in six developing countries alone, Coca-Cola was found to be responsible for half a million tonnes of plastic pollution each year.
Soda, like fashion companies, use branding, advertising, and packaging to create a notion of distinction around their products. Consumers may often use soda consumption as a way to signal this distinction. However, satisfaction from durable goods is short lived, unlike the pleasure of durable goods.
This is true of the soda and its bottle: while the soda pleasures thirst (a pleasure that can be re-experienced), the bottle's distinction satisfies a short-lived notion. It lacks a use value. Hence, repeated purchase, followed by disposal. However, as humans we have devised means. When the durable product's satisfaction expires, there is still hope of transforming (exchange) it at a profit.
Exchange value is where consumption is as the appropriation of an object, in the expectation that it might later be exchanged for profit. This has also become significant in the plastic industry, alas, as a double edge sword in that, I could hold onto plastic in the hope that I can gain an exchange value (e.g., from recycling) after satisfying my use-value. But plastic is one of the cheapest materials known to us. So where recycling does not satisfy its exchange value, we have attached a further value to the exchange of its waste.
Although plastic waste trade stands at a minuscule 2%, and suffered a decline at the height of the Covid19 pandemic, many countries still experience growth in plastic waste trade. For instance, major economies on record in the East African Community have seen a rise in either plastic waste export or imports between 2017 and 2021. Many authors attribute the world-wide trend to the Basel Convention.
International trade agreements can have a significant impact on the fast fashion industry. For example, a trade agreement can promise better (fast, convenient) trading conditions in certain instances. Escalating such will see international brands rethink their sourcing strategies, perhaps to the benefit of countries involved in newly negotiated trade agreements. The textile and clothing sectors are increasingly linked through rules of origin accompanying preferential market access.
The Central America and Dominican Republic Free Trade agreement is one example of an agreement that could strengthen the fast fashion industry, additionally delivered by the evolution of consumer behaviour and the increased use of e-commerce. These may bring forth new opportunities for the U.S.-Central America- Dominican Republic supply chain. But of course, at a cost.
According to the UN Environment Programme, the fashion industry produces between 2 to 8 per cent of global carbon emissions. A 2017 report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation further indicates that, if the sector continues on its current trajectory, its share of the carbon budget (the amount of greenhouse gases that can be 'spent'/ emitted for a given level of global warming) could jump to 26% by 2050. On the other hand, plastics footprint is estimated at the least 4.5%. Looking at global figures, the numbers are on the increase. By 2050, the accumulation of these greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach over 56 gigatons--10-13% of the remaining carbon budget. Combined, both industries would consume 39% of the remaining carbon budget with in that period. The above is mainly evidence of the numbers.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
As a comparison of fast fashion, "fast plastics" prioritizes speed, low cost, and disposability over durability and sustainability. This concept reflects political and economic trends that are flooding the market faster than we can manage, with implications for environmental sustainability and social issues like labor, not discussed here. Distinguishing thisphenomenon should push countries, such as those in the East African Community to borrow from Chinese counterparts in taking a leap forward to legislate plastic waste trade. It is also further indication for the urgency of turning 'off the tap', sustainably of course.
The author Roy Lutaaya is a sociologist
