A vast accumulation of more than 60,000 tonnes of abandoned clothing is growing every year in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, creating a textile dump so large that satellite imagery can detect it from orbit. The waste site near the town of Alto Hospicio has become one of the most striking examples of the damage caused by fast fashion, according to the satellite application SkyFi, which says the stain of residues is visible in images taken from space.
The problem begins at the port of Iquique on Chile's northern coast. Each year, more than 60,000 tonnes of garments arrive at its docks from Europe and other parts of the world. Much of this merchandise enters without paying taxes because Iquique forms part of Chile's free-trade zones. From there, the cargo is moved to the Alto Hospicio free zone, where it is distributed to other Latin American countries. But a huge quantity never finds a commercial outlet, and because no one assumes the costs of managing the waste, many garments end up abandoned in the open desert.
Analysis carried out by the NGO Ekō together with the Chilean collective Desierto Vestido has identified some of the most common brands among the discarded clothing. Labels found in the desert include Old Navy, H&M, Adidas and Levi's, as well as Zara, Hugo Boss, Under Armour, Tommy Hilfiger and Nike.
The problem does not end with the abandonment of the garments. Clothing is sometimes burned to speed its disposal, generating serious environmental consequences: it contaminates the soil, can affect groundwater and releases harmful substances into the air. Bastian Barria, one of the founders of Desierto Vestido, explained that after some fires a dark layer resembling hardened petroleum remains on the surface. That material, however, does not come from fossil fuels but from the remains of textiles that melted during combustion.
Beyond the environmental damage, authorities are concerned about the health problems the local population may suffer. Many of these garments contain synthetic fibres such as polyester, a petroleum-derived material that can release polluting compounds when burned. Smoke from the fires reaches nearby inhabited areas, and some residents say they suffer respiratory complaints. Alto Hospicio, a town a short distance from the improvised dump, has become one of the most affected places.
Its mayor, Patricio Ferreira, has denounced a situation that has dragged on for years. «We feel abandoned. We feel that our land has been sacrificed. We are the world's rubbish dump and there is still no real solution to this problem,» he told AFP. He added: «On the internet, when you search for Alto Hospicio, videos appear saying this is the ugliest place in the world. We are a small city hidden in northern Chile, and people know us for this.»
The scale of the crisis far exceeds Chile's borders. According to Infobae in January 2026, the port of Iquique receives between 120,000 and 180,000 tonnes of used clothing every year, a figure that makes Chile the world's fourth-largest importer of second-hand garments. This enormous flow of textiles, driven by growing global consumption and the rapid turnover of collections, has turned a commercial activity into one of the biggest environmental challenges of the twenty-first century.
The situation has even reached the courts. In what was considered a historic step, the First Environmental Court of Antofagasta ruled that the Chilean state bore responsibility by omission for failing to prevent or control the illegal accumulation of textile waste on fiscal lands in Alto Hospicio for years. The ruling ordered the creation of a ten-year environmental remediation plan. The process is not yet closed, however: the State Defence Council (CDE) filed an appeal before the Supreme Court, so the final decision remains pending.
The United Nations has warned that human beings generate more than 2 billion tonnes of waste worldwide each year, enough to circle the planet 25 times if packed into standard shipping containers, polluting land, air and water and disproportionately affecting poorer communities. Fast fashion is in the spotlight of this year's international day, highlighting the industry's astonishing consumption of resources and levels of pollution. In a sector where trends change rapidly and garments are often discarded after being worn only a handful of times, experts estimate that doubling the useful life of clothing could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 44 per cent.