Aftonbladet's investigation into Shein's returns – in 6 points
Publicerad 2025-01-13 06.26
Chinese Shein has become the world’s most popular online fashion brand – but its rapid rise comes with a steep environmental cost.
Aftonbladet has investigated Shein’s returns, by embedding airtags in five randomly selected items, following their journey across the globe.
Here’s the investigation – in brief.
1. Controversial partner
All five Shein items are initially handled by the logistics company Yun Express Nordic in Malmö. Shein’s partner has been repeatedly sanctioned by Sweden’s National Board for Consumer Disputes but has ignored the rulings.
2. Gigantic warehouses
Shein has created a massive logistics hub in the city of Wroclaw, Poland. The largest warehouse is 750 meters long, and the total area equals 26 football fields. Locals testify that the colossal buildings have altered the environment.
3. Breaking their own promise
Shein has pledged that the ”vast majority” of its European e-returns are resold here, without being shipped around the world. Aftonbladet’s investigation reveals otherwise: three out of five returns leave Europe.
4. Clothes sent to city infamous for textile dumping
These three garments are sent with a container ship to Iquique, Chile – a city overflowing with second-hand garments. Importers dump and burn up to 40,000 tons of clothing annually in the surrounding Atacama Desert, creating an environmental disaster.
5. Secret smuggling route
The final destination for three of the Shein items is Bolivia. The clothes are transported via a notorious smuggling route. Our airtags transmit signals from a neighborhood in the city of Oruro, controlled by criminal gangs.
6. More than 20,000 miles
The item that travels the farthest journeys a total of 21,314 kilometers from Stockholm to its final destination, Cochabamba, Bolivia.
