A garbage truck full of textiles is dumped in landfill every second. Sixty percent of the materials used in the fashion industry comes from plastic in one form or another. The production of nylon and polyester that is used is highly energy-intensive and relies on fossil fuels in the production process.

The clothes are made and, when washed, release micro-fibres into the sea and from there into the food chain. In every possible way, we become victims of capitalism as it devours the planet and destroys everything in its quest for profit.

Between 8% and 10% of total carbon emissions come from the work of the fast fashion industry. This is more than all maritime shipping and international flights combined.

Plastics are used to make the clothes and plastics are used to send the clothes to the consumer. Ninety percent of this plastic is not recycled.

Among the worst offenders in the cheap, throw-away, fashion industry are Shein and Temu. These companies epitomise all that is bad about capitalism and its anarchic structure. Capitalism lives in the moment and that moment is measured by the level of profit it can derive. What happens in a generation or even a decade is irrelevant. A cartoon did the rounds some years ago. A Rolls Royce with a cigar-smoking capitalist in the back drives past a billboard. It reads that the world will end in 30-40 years. The chauffeur is told to back up. “That’s a relief.” says the passenger. “I thought it said 3-4 years.”

A spokesperson for Temu recently spoke to the ABC. The mouthpiece for the company and its monstrous, environmentally disastrous trade made excuses. “Temu helps Australians stretch their dollar by cutting out the middleman and offering affordable everyday goods. We’re a platform for choice and value, supporting small businesses and enforcing strict standards on seller conduct.” What a relief!

That “platform for choice and value” is, no doubt, echoed in the logic of Shein. Their “platform” is selling to two million Australian consumers who spent more than $1 billion on their clothes last year.

Shein did not respond to the ABC’s call for comment. The Temu representative was asked about labour conditions and waste. There was no answer.

These two companies are responsible for significant levels of waste, of environmental damage and contributions to climate damage. Then there is the matter of the exploitation of labour. The price of their goods is astonishingly low. There is, of course, the issue of scale of production. However, economy of scale does not go anywhere near explaining the ridiculous prices.

The companies are China-based, although Temu “technically” has its headquarters in the US and Shein is notionally headquartered in Singapore.

Shein’s production is almost exclusively conducted in China, as is Temu’s. Temu does also source materials from southeast Asia and India. There have been frequent claims of serious labour abuses made against these companies.

Shein has admitted to charges of child labour and that factories are not paying minimum wages. They avoid prosecution by pointing out that they do not own any factories! Somebody does! The same applies to Temu. With unofficial governmental cover, they wash their hands of any charges of wrongdoing or gross violations of human rights. Their practices are as bad as the worst days of the Industrial Revolution, so devastatingly reported by Engels in The Condition of the Working Class in England.

There have been repeated and credible reports of forced labour, including Uyghur labour in China’s Xinjiang Province.

This begs the question of how companies like Shein and Temu can operate with virtual impunity in China. The Chinese Government claims it maintains strict legal labour laws. It has an official, constitutionally enshrined set of labour regulations. There is an official 40-hour week and yet the notorious 9-9-6 system of contracts is still operating. The numbers refer to how workers in specific workplaces are compelled to work from 9am to 9pm six days a week. This adds up to a 72-hour week.

Under such conditions, Shein and Temu can exploit workers with impunity.

The Chinese Government is obviously at fault. It permits capital to behave as it does. The Chinese constitution has recently been amended to give the right to private capital to maintain control.

But it is not just China that is acting criminally. The entire supply chain is supported by governments around the world. Australia permits the importation of these goods in the clear understanding that they are produced by sweated labour. The government can, of course, feign innocence by pointing to the fact that the goods are arriving by post. It can hardly be an excuse.

Dangerous and prohibited goods are subject to stringent checks before crossing borders. It is not at the whim of a courier company or the postman. How then are goods, quite possibly produced by forced labour, miraculously exempt?

The companies are dealing with one-to-one trade; postal trade. According to Australian law, goods may be imported so long as they comply with minimal regulations including biosecurity checks. Goods with a value below $1000 do not incur duties or taxes and so the importation of shoddy goods produced under the worst of possible conditions is never in question.

The hugely lucrative trade remains unethical, but cheap for Australian consumers.

Our government, like that of China and all other states, makes all sorts of proclamations to the effect that we are all combatting the climate crisis. The work of Shein and Temu, along with the other fast-fashion producers, makes a mockery of these proclamations.

A rubbish truck full of unwanted cheap clothing goes to landfill every second. Eight million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in the oceans every year. 130,000 tonnes of plastic leaks into the marine environment in Australia each year. 10-40 million metric tonnes of micro-plastic fibres are released into the environment annually.

Capitalism is killing the planet and threatening every man, woman and child on earth. The dark cartoon of the capitalist in his Rolls-Royce and the relief of a few more years haunts us all.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.