Global fast-fashion giants and nonprofit organizations are joining forces to move "extended producer responsibility" (EPR) from theory to the ground in old-clothing importing countries. H&M Group, Adidas, Inditex (Zara's parent company) and Danish fashion company Bestseller have joined The Apparel Recovery Coalition (ARC), initiated by The Or Foundation, with Ghana chosen as the first implementation location.

Key points

  • The Or Foundation estimates that Ghana's Kantamanto Market, one of the world's largest secondhand clothing markets, moves about 25 million garments each month.
  • ARC is supported by voluntary funding from H&M Group, Adidas, Inditex and Bestseller, with Netherlands-based Circle Economy serving as the coalition's secretariat.
  • The coalition will focus on exploring how producer responsibility funds can reflect the actual cross-border flows of secondhand textiles and be directed toward reuse, upcycling, recycling and responsible waste management in recipient countries.

According to estimates by The Or Foundation, Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana—one of the world's largest secondhand clothing hubs—handles about 25 million used garments every month. Liz Ricketts, co-founder and executive director of The Or Foundation, told Vogue that rather than spending another five years on paper discussions and leaving communities like Kantamanto to continue bearing an unfair burden, ARC aims to test whether "globally accountable EPR" can become a reality; she said Kantamanto is not a dump, nor a perfectly functioning circular economy, but a place with agency, accumulated knowledge, skills and possibilities, and locating the coalition here is meant to show that grand circular economy plans must be grounded in reality.

The coalition secretariat is provided by Netherlands-based Circle Economy. Its CEO and ARC spokesperson Hilde van Duijn noted that research shows most post-consumer textiles collected and sorted in the EU are exported outside the EU, and even if these garments are reused or upcycled (which in fact is not always the case), they ultimately become waste in importing countries. The coalition therefore focuses on countries that receive large volumes of secondhand clothing exports, with Ghana as the first stop.

According to the coalition's statement, its work proceeds along three paths: first, exploring funding and practical support linked to these cross-border flows to strengthen collection, sorting, reuse and recycling activities in recipient countries; second, bringing the perspectives of affected communities into priority setting, activity design and lesson learning, and testing more inclusive governance and implementation approaches; third, producing practical experience for reference by brands, producer responsibility organizations (PROs), policymakers and other relevant parties.

According to ESGDive, Adidas, H&M, Inditex and Bestseller will provide funding for the above projects through voluntary contributions to support circular economy-related initiatives.

For the used-clothing trade industry, this marks that brands are beginning to extend the funding and governance reach of EPR to the export destinations of secondhand clothing, rather than stopping at the collection end within Europe; if the pilot experience takes shape, it could influence the future cross-border flow and allocation rules of producer responsibility funds.

Source: H&M, Adidas join coalition to improve post-consumer textile flows · Originally published on 2026-10-13