For Uganda, upcycling waste textiles may create inexperienced jobs, with novice tailors incomes US$4.6 per day and professionals making as much as US$17.9 per day.
Nevertheless, to totally understand this chance, coverage help, and funding in recycling infrastructure is significant.
Equally, stakeholder collaboration might be essential for transitioning Uganda in direction of a round textile economic system.
Within the coronary heart of Kampala, Owino Market thrives as Uganda’s largest second-hand clothes hub, welcoming hundreds of merchants and prospects day by day. Whereas this commerce powers the native economic system, it additionally generates vital textile waste, contributing as much as 48 tonnes of waste day by day.
With most discarded textiles ending up in landfills, burned, or informally repurposed, a rising motion is searching for options—one that would flip waste into wealth. Can this initiative in Uganda be mapped onto different economies throughout the East African Neighborhood (EAC) the place the commerce in second-hand clothes is a booming enterprise?
A latest research by WasteAid, the Administration Coaching and Advisory Centre, and the Uganda Tailors Affiliation highlights the financial viability of upcycling textile waste. It discovered that novice tailors may earn roughly US$4.6 (about USh16,876.11) per day, whereas skilled tailors may make as much as US$17.9 (about USh65,670.07) per day by reworking waste textiles into new merchandise.
This discovering underscores the potential of a textile reuse hub in creating jobs, lowering environmental affect, and fostering a round textile economic system in Uganda.
The hidden economic system of textile waste
In the mean time, Uganda is the fifth-largest importer of second-hand clothes in Africa, bringing in 80 million kg of these things in 2023. This sector contributes US$70.85 million in tax income yearly and helps 50,000 merchants in Owino Market alone.
Nevertheless, regardless of its financial advantages, Uganda’s second-hand clothes business stays linear, which means that when textiles attain the top of their life cycle, they’re discarded somewhat than recycled or repurposed.
Retailers and distributors report scuffling with unsold inventory, with 54.8 per cent stating that some gadgets develop into unsellable resulting from injury, fading, or put on. Whereas some merchants provide reductions to clear stock, a considerable quantity is in the end disposed of as waste.
On the identical time, an estimated 800,000 kg of waste arises yearly from the bale-opening course of alone. With out structured recycling services, a lot of this materials is misplaced financial potential.
The economics of upcycling: A viable various?
Confronted with mounting waste, Uganda’s tailors and artisans have begun exploring upcycling—the method of repurposing waste textiles into new merchandise. A pilot research at Owino Market examined the monetary feasibility of this mannequin, revealing that:
Novice tailors may earn a mean of US$4.6 per day by creating upcycled cloth merchandise.
Skilled tailors may make as much as US$17.9 per day, considerably greater than the typical revenue within the casual sector.
By reworking textile waste into flooring mats, desk mats, clothes, and paintings, upcycling can create inexperienced jobs and develop Uganda’s manufacturing potential. Past tailors, a textile reuse hub may generate employment for sorters, designers, and entrepreneurs, making textile waste a invaluable financial useful resource somewhat than an environmental burden.
The position of casual waste collectors
Within the absence of formal recycling infrastructure, casual waste collectors play a key position in salvaging discarded textiles. An estimated 755,820–879,580 kg of textile waste is collected yearly by casual actors in Owino Market, with most supplies used for, mattress and pillow stuffing, cleansing rags for industries and or handcrafted cloth equipment.
Whereas these efforts assist cut back waste, they continue to be small-scale and fragmented, missing the mandatory funding to scale up sustainable textile recycling. Establishing a structured textile reuse system may elevate the work of those collectors, formalizing waste assortment and processing right into a worthwhile sector.
Why Uganda wants a textile reuse hub
A textile reuse hub may function a central processing middle the place waste textiles are: sorted based mostly on materials sort and high quality, repurposed into marketable merchandise, offered domestically and internationally as upcycled items.
The monetary feasibility of such a hub is clear. If even a fraction of Uganda’s 48 tonnes of day by day textile waste is diverted in direction of upcycling, the financial advantages might be vital. The research highlights that funding in sorting, recycling, and upcycling services may drive sustainable change, lowering Uganda’s reliance on landfills whereas unlocking new income streams.
Coverage and stakeholder collaboration: A significant lacking hyperlink
To understand the total potential of a round textile economic system, collaboration amongst policymakers, merchants, native governments, and worldwide donors is crucial. Key areas for intervention embrace: growing nationwide insurance policies that help textile recycling initiatives, offering incentives for companies that spend money on upcycling and textile waste administration, funding pilot tasks to scale up textile reuse efforts, educating customers on the worth of sustainable trend and accountable consumption.
With out coverage help and focused funding, Uganda dangers lacking out on a multi-million-dollar business that would present hundreds of jobs whereas addressing an pressing environmental problem.
Presently, Uganda stands at a crossroads: proceed treating textile waste as an environmental downside, or embrace it as an financial alternative. The monetary feasibility of upcycling textile waste is not in query—the problem now lies in scaling up options and mobilizing stakeholders.
With the suitable investments, nonetheless, Uganda may cleared the path in round textile economic system initiatives in East Africa, lowering landfill reliance, creating inexperienced jobs, and positioning itself as a hub for sustainable trend. The way forward for Uganda’s textile business depends upon its means to show waste into wealth—one upcycled cloth at a time.
Learn additionally: The hidden value of Uganda’s love for second-hand clothes
