Starting from 2000, The Conservancy Association (CA) provides Used Clothes Collection (UCC) service for the general public and housing estates. CA and our contractor strive to stick with the principle of waste avoidance in handling collected used clothes. Most of the used clothes collected by CA are exported to Southeast Asian countries (e.g. Cambodia) for reuse purposes, and some of them are donated to the people in need or charities. We hope it can contribute to waste reduction, and fulfill donors’ wish of helping others simultaneously.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused severe effects on the economic activities and limited the border circulation, which has made certain negative impacts on UCC industry. Although the pandemic situation in Hong Kong seems to have stabilized recently, some Southeast Asian countries (e.g. Philippines) have implemented lockdown measures, thus blocking out the import of used clothes. On the other hand, Cambodia, as a core collection and distribution centre of used clothes, is also difficult to have import-export activities, thus the collected used clothes cannot be shipped to Southeast Asia. Therefore, the local warehouse is fully filled with used clothes and fails to circulate internationally due to the lockdown. In view of the current situation, CA can only temporarily suspend the UCC service until the exporting condition has shown some improvements. We hope to resume the UCC service before the end of this year; however, regarding the global development of the pandemic situation, it seems infeasible to resume regular service in the near future.
To tackle the current dilemma of UCC, we sincerely advise public donors to keep their clothes at home and recycle them when the pandemic is under effectively controlled and the border is re-circulated. We believe that home is the best and the most hygienic location for storing clothes. Besides, under the situation of economic downturn, there is still a demand on UCC service, which reflects the material life of general donors is fulfilled or even above average. But imagine, if there is no demand for used clothes even in developing countries, where could the donated clothing go? Can we still rely on exporting used clothes? Can we achieve the principle of “reuse”? Or how shall we adjust our purchasing behavior at this stage? These are questions worth thinking during this time. To be honest, we believe that everyone is familiar with the principle of environmental protection. Therefore, we hope that all of us can take this opportunity to reflect on our personal lifestyle, and try to reduce the unnecessary consumption, so as to keep a balance on the human-nature relationship.
