Clothes waste from Nike, Ralph Lauren and Reebok used to fuel toxic kiln fires, project claims

Unearthed claims the incineration of garment waste, which commonly contains toxic chemicals, endangers the health of vulnerable kiln workers

A Nike off-cut is seen in a kiln located in Kandal province (Thomas Cristofoletti Ruom for Unearthed)

Cambodian factories are exposing workers to toxic fumes by burning cloth scraps from fashion giants such as Nike, Ralph Lauren, Reebok, Diesel, Next, and Clarks, it has been alleged.

An investigation by Unearthed, a Greenpeace UK journalism project, claims factories in the country are using tags, labels, footwear, fabric, and garment scraps to fuel brick kilns.

Workers move dried slabs of clay by hand into the kilns to manufacture bricks, where they burn for a couple of days in temperatures reaching up to 650C.

Unearthed claims the incineration of garment waste, which commonly contains toxic chemicals, endangers the health of kiln workers, causing coughs, colds, flu, nose bleeds and lung inflammation.

The project also says it raises the carbon footprint of clothes destined for Europe and the US.

The report quotes Dr Laurie Parsons of UK’s Royal Holloway University who co-authored a seminal 2018 report exposing the practice of garment incineration in Cambodian kilns.

He said: “The burning of acrylic garments, especially when combined with plastic bags, hangers, rubber and other waste as occurs in Cambodia, releases plastic microfibres and other toxic chemicals into the immediate environment which compromise the health of workers and neighbours on a short- and long-term basis.

“The human impacts, in particular, are substantially worse than burning wood and have been highlighted in a recent UK parliamentary report as a major problem in the industry.”

A Clarks spokesperson told Unearthed: “We are conducting a thorough investigation and believe we have identified the potential source.

“We believe this incident to be an exceptional occurrence. Our ongoing investigation has led us to believe that in accordance with our code of practice for suppliers, waste from the relevant Cambodian factories was provided to a government-approved waste services company.”

A Michael Kors spokesperson said: “We strive to produce our products in an environmentally responsible manner, and to partner with suppliers to reduce emissions, waste and other environmental impacts of our products” and “will reiterate to our suppliers our expectations around proper collection and disposal of garment waste”.

A Next spokesperson said: “Under clause 8.5 of the Next Standard Terms and Conditions of Purchase, suppliers cannot dispose of rejected, seconds, excess, samples or cancelled stock unless stock is sold through the Next clearance routes” and that “it appears this breach could possibly have taken place due to their suppliers in Cambodia not adhering to the policy.”

OTB Group, the parent organisation for Diesel, said that OTB “constantly monitors the supply chain” and “the brand is no longer producing garments in Cambodia”.

They added that “no evidence has emerged on the subject from the recent internal review we carried out with our former and only supplier active in the Country in 2020-21”.

Michael Kors, Reebok, and Nike have all been approached for a comment by The Independent.