Accra, November 2025. Landfills2Landmarks took part in a government-convened technical workshop on end-of-life textiles in Accra, hosted with the support of the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI) – Ghana Office. The programme brought together ministries, city authorities, standards bodies, market actors, and international partners to align policy, market practice, data, standards, procurement and finance so that textiles are recovered into reuse, upcycling and verified treatment rather than entering the environment.
Discussions confirmed five priorities that can move delivery forward at pace.
First: clear public leadership within a single national frame, so roles and accountability are understood across ministries, assemblies and markets.
Second: verifiable downstream data that separates household arisings from import-driven flows, and uses straightforward evidence such as arrival photos and weigh logs; household audits undertaken with UN-Habitat indicate textiles at just under 4% of bin waste, while market-related flows require their own baseline.
Third: buyer protection rules at the point of sale, including supervised bale inspection with supplier declarations and a remedy ladder for failed lots, to curb street discards and improve trust.
Fourth: standards and procurement pathways that create demand for products made from recovered textiles, once they meet Ghana Standards Authority thresholds.
Fifth: practical pilots on a path to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), with transparent reporting and regular public updates.
Operational inputs from city authorities highlighted pressure at disposal sites and set out immediate steps to improve discipline in markets, including staffed return routines, covered receiving areas, and standardised documentation.
Technical options examined for near-term pilots included fibre-to-panel applications for synthetic-rich fractions and open-loop cotton uses such as absorbent and geotextile products, with testing overseen by the Ghana Standards Authority. Participants also discussed non-subjective fibre composition labelling at bale level to improve pre-purchase information, essential safety upgrades at damaged blocks, and faster commercialisation of existing upcycled products, so that recovery activity is matched by real sales.
Behaviour, incentives, and communication formed a significant part of the dialogue. Willingness to pay for waste services remains low and enforcement is uneven, so proposals included rewards for verified diversion, penalties and levies for low-quality inflows, and communication through channels that actually move behaviour – from market associations and informal collectors to faith networks and local media. Cooperative models that link formal and informal actors were encouraged, ensuring resources and training reach small traders and workers across the system.
Landfills2Landmarks called for transparency across the value chain, shared responsibility, and a national data infrastructure, so that every movement of textiles is recorded, reconciled, and auditable. This requires a clear reporting template with a shared data dictionary for markets and facilities, a bale inspection and buyer protection protocol with photo and weigh requirements, and plain language trader guidance. The aim is data that can be trusted, not selective samples that serve only their proponents. Each tool must function in both formal and informal settings,and feed a national registry operated with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Our position is that commercial logic must be visible from the start. Investors back operations that demonstrate enforceable rules at the point of sale, predictable feedstock, and verified outcomes.
Next steps signalled by the conveners include commissioning a Zero Draft Textile Sorting and Handling Standard for consultation, initiating a short baseline to replace estimates with evidence, confirming the secretariat and membership of a technical working group, and publishing a regular dashboard with the Environmental Protection Agency. Landfills2Landmarks will support assemblies and associations that participate in the baseline, and will make its buyer protection and data tools available under the agreed framework.
Landfills2Landmarks returns and comes off 18 to 22 May 2026 at Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra, convening upstream and downstream actors to exchange evidence, demonstrate solutions, and advance implementation on standards, data, finance, and delivery for end-of-life textiles.
About Landfills2Landmarks
Landfills2Landmarks is a Ghana and UK non-governmental initiative advancing circular solutions in textiles. We convene partners across the value chain, develop traceability and data tools, and run pilots that channel textiles into verified reuse, upcycling and recovery. Our work centres on transparency, shared responsibility and investable delivery.
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