Atacama Desert becomes massive global textile landfill

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile has become one of the world’s largest textile landfills, with massive piles of discarded clothing visible from space. Located near the town of Alto Hospicio, these waste sites cover more than 300 hectares of the desert landscape.

Estimates suggest that approximately 60,000 tons of unwanted clothing are brought to the region annually. These textiles, which include everything from winter sweaters to footwear, originate primarily from Europe, the United States, China, and Bangladesh. While Chile serves as a hub for the secondhand clothing trade, much of the imported stock is either unsellable or fails to find buyers, leading to its disposal in the desert.

A report commissioned by the Chilean Ministry of Environment indicates that 50 percent of textile waste from Europe and the U.S. ends up in developing nations such as Ghana, Kenya, and Chile. Satellite imagery from companies like SkyFi has documented the scale of the problem, showing that the clothing waste is comparable in size to nearby urban developments.