Lithium Power International Ltd (fka LTHHF)

[Dr_Vonschellan]

Who_runs clothing_dumps in_Red Corridor_near lithium_mines? Bolivians
https://eldeber.com.bo/pais/las-mafias-bolivianas-de-la-ropa-usada-contaminan-el-medioambiente-en-el-norte-de-chile_319206
The Bolivians are already just down the road from us. They are running the huge clothing junkyards spreading across the Atacama so quickly... pushing Chileans out.

The Doctor
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Bolivian used clothing mafias pollute the environment in northern Chile
The used clothing business in Iquique is dominated by Bolivians. The groups select the garments and those that are not suitable for offers are sent to an illegal dump located in the Atacama desert.
March 27, 2023, 4:00 AM

It is an ecological disaster in the middle of the Atacama desert. They are piles of used clothes that are in the hot sands and that are causing a strong environmental impact. The used clothing business in northern Chile is dominated by Bolivian groups and part of that trade is selecting the best clothing to arrive in the country. What does not work or is not liked, they throw it away.

In the Alto Hospicio commune, very close to the city of Iquique, there is a lot of discomfort because the remains of used clothing have become a headache. There are lots and lots of used clothing that fills the Atacama desert and that with the passage of time becomes material that affects the environment. In Iquique, this medium was able to verify that Bolivian groups are the ones that dominate the used clothing business, a trade that competes with that of undocumented cars.

The port of Iquique receives approximately 51,000 tons of used clothing per year. Of that figure, 20% ends up in the Atacama desert as garbage. In this place you can find clothes of all kinds and for all ages. There are tears, some with damage and others that are useless for dressing. There are also shoes in good condition and others totally broken. You can also see purses, backpacks and even wallets. Everything is in piles and waiting for someone to select what is served or it may simply be burned.

At that point, Venezuelan migrants were seen collecting what they serve, but many times they were found by police authorities and later deported.

The presidential delegate of the Tarapacá region, Daniel Quinteros, told EL DEBER that the issue of used clothing dumps in the Alto Hospicio commune harms the environment and that a regulation is being worked on to try to stop this phenomenon.

“It is an issue that worries us, it was even a concern at the international level. On this issue of used clothing that ends up in illegal landfills, we have a work group that sees only this point and we have carried out a series of inspections to somehow contain this situation (...) Used clothing that cannot be used In no way should it have control, both at the entrance and improve the regulations to generate higher barriers to the entry of products that will not be used in the national market and that end up in the trash," Quinteros said.

They classify clothes into different levels

The used clothing that arrives at the port of Iquique is classified by different levels. The first is the one that most attracts Bolivian gangs and that are sent to the country immediately. Something similar happens with the second and third, but they are already offered at a lower cost. However, there are other selections that are not taken into account and it is these garments that go to illegal dumps.

In this way, the Atacama desert becomes a kind of wardrobe of desired garments, of different sizes and dream brands. It is a huge clandestine dump of clothing that is bought, worn, and thrown away in the United States, Europe, and Asia. They are colorful hills that rise in the desolate landscape.

The excessive and fleeting consumption of clothing, with chains capable of releasing more than 50 seasons of new products per year, has caused textile waste to grow exponentially in the world, which takes about 200 years to disintegrate.

Clothes made in China or Bangladesh arrive in Iquique and were bought in Berlin or Los Angeles before being discarded. At least 25,000 tons end up as garbage hidden in the desert in the Alto Hospicio area, in northern Chile, one of the final destinations for “second-hand” clothing or from past seasons from fast-fashion chains.

Chile is the first importer of used clothing in Latin America. For nearly 40 years there has been a solid trade in "American clothing" in stores throughout the country, which are supplied with bundles purchased by free zones from the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia.

The Bolivian hand entered this business years ago. There are gangs that trade in these garments, but also dispose of them in the sands of the Atacama.

Alicia (fictitious name) awaits her cargo in the free zone of Iquique. She says that she cannot open the “fardos” (large plastic bags) to select what she arrived. "It's luck. Sometimes good clothes come, but sometimes there are clothes that can no longer be sold and that is thrown away, ”said Alicia. The Bolivian merchant refers to the Atacama desert.