A CCTV report has revealed that some used clothing sorting plants supply approximately 40 tons of secondhand garments to livestream rooms every day, and these clothes are sold as new without being washed. The report noted that some of the supply comes from dumpsters and recycling stations.

Key Points

  • CCTV exposes the inner workings of used clothing recycling: sorting plants sell 40 tons of old clothes to livestream rooms in a single day
  • Secondhand clothes are sold directly as new clothes in livestreams without being washed
  • Some garments originate from dumpsters and recycling stations

The report links the used clothing recycling industry chain to the gray zone of livestream e-commerce. According to CCTV's investigation, used clothing sorting plants are a key node in the chain—they gather old clothes from various recycling channels, sort them, and supply them in bulk by the ton to livestream rooms. The livestream rooms then sell these unwashed secondhand garments to consumers under the guise of "new clothes."

The report specifically mentions that some of the old clothes entering the sorting process come from dumpsters and recycling stations. This means that the hygiene conditions and traceability of some supply sources cannot be guaranteed, and livestream consumers are unaware of this when making purchases. The daily supply volume of 40 tons also indicates that this chain is not an isolated case but a normalized operation of considerable scale.

For the industry, this exposure points to a regulatory blind spot in the downstream flow of used clothing recycling: old clothes at the recycling end should enter reuse, regeneration, or compliant secondhand circulation channels, but once constraints such as washing, disinfection, and labeling are lacking, they may be packaged as new products and sold directly to consumers. This harms buyers' rights and also deals a trust blow to legitimate secondhand clothing operators.

Source: CCTV Exposes the Inside Story of Used Clothing Recycling: Secondhand Clothes in Livestreams Sold as New Without Washing. Used Clothing Sorting Plants Sell 40 Tons a Day to Livestreams, Some Garments Come from Dumpsters and Recycling Stations. Used Clothing Recycling · Originally published on 2026-04-10