[geoelectric]

The article doesn't focus on their specific shoes with some kind of shallow outrage that they went to the wrong place. The article focuses on the vastly expanded chain of responsibility, through the unexpected routes the trackers they hid in shoes revealed to them. As it turns out, the routes are a big issue because there's very little responsibility ensured.

Used clothing import is illegal in Indonesia, and has been since 2015, according to the article. They aren't allowed to be sent there. So the shoes get confiscated when they're found or intercepted, and it's not disclosed how they're disposed of afterwards. It sounds like in other cases where the clothing imports aren't explicitly illegal, there are middlemen that aren't on the hook to recycle filtering through the shipments and discarding or destroying unsellable rejects.

With permission and some degree of oversight what you say has some merit. But this is a black market import in some places, and just being dumped into flea markets in others. This is shipping your trash to get burned overseas.