Watch | World’s trash piles up at Chile’s Atacama desert

A video on the garbage dumps in Chile’s Atacama desert

The Atacama desert in Chile is one of the driest places on Earth. Today, it has been reduced to the world’s dumping yard

Mountains of discarded clothes, shoes, and scrapped tires have been dumped in the desert.

Chile has been a hub for second-hand and unsold clothing from Europe, Asia, and the US.

Most of these clothes are either sold throughout Latin America or end up in dumps in the desert.

Around 46,000 tonnes of used clothing came into northern Chile last year.

Clothes are filled with chemicals and they take about 200 years to biodegrade. Sometimes, these clothes are even burnt.

Used cars also flood into the country from the free trade zone. While many are exported, some end up in the desert.

Piles of abandoned tires are also scattered across the desert.

The locals feel that their country has been reduced to being the world’s landfill.