Key Points

  • Legitimate sorting centers divide old clothes into three categories A/B/C: Category A is disinfected and exported to Kenya, Category B is sent to regeneration factories in Shandong to be made into non-woven fabric, and Category C is incinerated for power generation—one ton can generate over 300 kWh.
  • Some community recycling bins are operated by shell companies registered in garages of residential buildings under fake charity names; the collected clothes are resold to middlemen, and when investigated, the operators simply swap in new bins and start over.
  • In the Kenyan market, Chinese second-hand T-shirts sell for about 20 shillings (roughly 1.3 yuan), but problematic goods (moldy bedding, bloodstained clothing) have led to entire batches being returned; after customs seizure, every item must pass through an X-ray machine.

What happens to a piece of old clothing after it is dropped into a community recycling bin? The answer depends on who operates the bin behind it.

At the sorting center of a legitimate old clothes recycling company, more than fifty workers stand on both sides of a conveyor belt, processing two truckloads of old clothes every day. Sorting standards divide items into three categories based on condition and material: Category A is new-looking and flawless, repeatedly washed and disinfected before being shipped to Kenya; Category B is sent to regeneration factories in Shandong, crushed into non-woven fabric that may become soundproofing cotton for renovations or surgical pads for hospitals; Category C is severely damaged and can only be incinerated for power generation—one ton of old clothes can generate over 300 kWh, enough for three households for a month. A skilled sorter can sort three thousand items a day.

The Cost Math of "Fake" Recycling Bins

But not all recycling bins lead to legitimate channels. Some bins in communities labeled "public welfare donation" are actually operated by shell companies. An investigation found that a recycling bin operating company was registered at a garage in a residential building, with a seventy-year-old legal representative from another province, and the company's name was not on the local charity federation's list of legitimate recycling bins.

This model has extremely low costs: rent a warehouse, hang a fake sign, resell the collected clothes to middlemen, and profits can multiply several times over. After being investigated, they simply change bins and start again, because the bins themselves are not networked and hard to trace. A scrap collector revealed that such bins pay him a 500 yuan monthly management fee.

In contrast, legitimate sorting companies spend 500 yuan per ton of old clothes on disinfection alone.

Demand and Risks in the African Market

A merchant engaged in wholesale second-hand clothing in Kenya said Chinese old clothes sell very well locally. A sports-brand T-shirt sells for about 20 shillings in Kenya (about 1.3 yuan), half the price of local new clothes; some styles even become "internet-famous" items and can be resold at a markup.

But this market also faces quality problems. Previously, unscrupulous traders mixed moldy bedding and bloodstained sheets into shipping containers, leading to large-scale returns. Some batches were even found to contain bloodstained clothing carrying HIV, nearly causing the entire market to be shut down. Currently, every imported old garment must pass through an X-ray machine, and compliance costs have risen noticeably.

Significance for the Industry

Old clothes recycling is itself an important part of the resource circulation industry: exports generate foreign exchange, regeneration produces industrial raw materials, and incineration supplements electricity. But in the industry chain, legitimate companies coexist with "fake" recycling bins; the latter's low-cost operations squeeze the profit margins of compliant operators and also erode public trust in donations. For practitioners, establishing a traceable flow certification system may be an emerging competitive threshold.

Source: Where do recycled old clothes actually end up? The boss let it slip—will you still donate? · Originally published on 2025-09-13