Azernews.Az

By Alimat Aliyeva

In Norway, charities are increasingly refusing to accept clothing from Chinese online stores such as Temu and Shein for reuse. The main reasons are the extremely low quality of the products and the presence of harmful chemicals, including carcinogens banned in the European Union, Azernews reports.

Despite warnings from authorities and inspection results showing levels of harmful substances above the permissible limits, Norwegians continue to actively order cheap goods from China. In November and December alone, several hundred thousand items were purchased. After the holidays, many of these items are no longer needed — they are either donated to charity or thrown away.

Organizations such as the Blue Cross and the Church City Mission state that they do not want to resell such clothing and are often forced to recycle it. Others, like Fretex Miljø, do accept these items, but each piece undergoes a careful quality assessment. According to the management, using already produced clothing, even if of low quality, is still better than letting it go to waste.

Environmentalists point out that this situation reflects a broader problem of “fast fashion”: cheap clothing quickly loses its value, pollutes the environment, and puts extra pressure on recycling systems. Behind the lure of low prices, there is often a high ecological and social cost.