STOP WASTE COLONIALISM

The Or Foundation is the facilitator of the Stop Waste Colonialism Campaign, but the Kantamanto Community is the driving force. Kantamanto is demanding to be heard. A Justice-led Transition to Circular Textiles Economy must prioritize the prosperity of the people who have been made most vulnerable by the linear economy. The Stop Waste Colonialism campaign is based on three key principles: 

Kantamanto and Global Secondhand Markets Do Circularity 

Every Garment Is Waste Until Proven Otherwise 

Waste Should Not Transit Borders Without Accompanying EPR Funding 

Our position paper is the result of 5 years of field research, global literature review and participation in various research groups, and is a proposal for an improved EPR scheme for Textiles based on the framework of: 

• Internalizing Cost of Waste Management with eco-modulated fees starting at US $0.50 per newly produced garment. 
• Making EPR globally accountable by supporting every stage of the reverse supply chain, including global reuse markets where final sorting and preparation for reuse determine the fate of each individual garment. 
• Disclosing production volumes to drive Circularity toward a reduction of new production by 40%. 

We call on policy makers to design EPR Policies that Prioritize Our Reality and Our Understanding Of Waste. We call on institutions to endorse our position paper as an allied organization. We call on brands & retailers to disclose their production volumes. We call on citizens to sign our petition and demand that brands speak volumes. We are actively meeting with members of the EU Commission and continuing to engage decision makers in France and in the US. In November 2022 & May 2023 we traveled to Europe with a delegation of tailors and retailers from Kantamanto Market to advocate for a Globally Accountable EPR scheme for Textile. 

Learn more about our campaign on StopWasteColonialism.org.