Impactos ambientais da indústria de Fast Fashion : o caso do colonialismo de resíduos no Deserto do Atacama

Abstract

This research analyzes the massive disposal of textile waste in the Atacama Desert, Chile, as an expression of waste colonialism within the global dynamics of the fast fashion industry. The research is based on the assumption that the accelerated model of fashion production and consumption intensifies waste generation, whose destination occurs unevenly, transferring environmental costs from the Global North to territories of the Global South. To achieve this, a qualitative approach is adopted, grounded in the analysis of primary sources — such as legislation, official documents, and Chilean and international institutional data — and secondary sources, including books, academic articles, and journalistic reports that engage with the concepts of Political Ecology, environmental colonialism, and waste colonialism. The study examines the logistical dynamics of the Iquique Free Trade Zone, the processes of sorting, redistribution, and disposal of garments without commercial value, as well as the formation of the so-called “clothing cemeteries” in the Atacama and their socio-environmental impacts. Furthermore, it discusses the limits of Chilean environmental governance and international waste management regimes in the face of structural asymmetries in the International System. The research concludes that the accumulation of textile waste in the Atacama is not merely a local environmental issue, but a concrete manifestation of global ecological inequality, highlighting the systematic externalization of environmental damages from excessive consumption in central countries to peripheral regions.