It’s Christmas 1992 and a 12-year-old boy is playing Mario World on his brand-new Super Nintendo.
Fast forward 30 years and the same ‘boy’ has retrieved his not-so-brand-new Super Nintendo from his loft; and lo and behold, it still works!
Kind of.
While the console is fully functioning (they don’t make ‘em like they use to!) the CR2032 battery that powers the game cartridge’s internal memory, has long died.
I’m a marketer by trade, not an engineer, but one YouTube tutorial later and I’m opening 30-year-old game cartridges, heating up the old solder and replacing the batteries with fresh joints. It’s an easy repair and the Mushroom Kingdom is in safe hands once more.
This led me to consider, what other devices do I own, that I could feasibly repair if they failed?
The list was pitifully small.
The Age of Disposable Electronics
Almost by stealth, we have found ourselves in age of disposable consumer electronics, where planned electronic obsolescence has become the norm. Nowadays it’s accepted procedure for major electronic brands to upgrade their flagship models every year or so, leaving us little option but to purchase a new device, when our old one no longer functions as it once did.
“Once we own a new device, we often can’t replace its batteries or take it to an independent repair shop for a simple fix. It’s standard practice for companies to plan obsolescence into their products — including by introducing software upgrades that aren’t compatible with existing hardware”.
The Guardian
As far back as 2017 a report from Greenpeace found that it’s completely within the realms of possibility to design electronics with reparability in mind, it’s all down to the will of the manufacturers.
“Of all the models assessed, we found a few best-in-class products, which demonstrate that designing for reparability is possible. On the other hand, a number of products from Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft are increasingly being designed in ways that make it difficult for users to fix, which shortens the lifespan of these devices and adds to growing stockpiles of e-waste.”
Right to Repair – Becomes Law
The UK introduced its first ‘right to repair’ legislation on 1 July 2021. The new regulations, based on EU guidelines, required manufacturers to make spare parts available for customers and repair shops within two years.
It makes sense, businesses in the UK who sell electronic products to Europe need to adhere to EU law. They require manufacturers to produce devices with components that facilitates easy repair and to make spare parts available.
The main goal of the UK and EU laws are simple.
Sustainability.
They are looking to achieve this by reducing waste and reducing pressure on natural resource, by making less brand-new products, when existing products could be serviceable. They also aim to phase out the built-in end of life design that many manufacturers have employed, to encourage demand for new products.
So far so good.
However, the UK’s latest right to repair laws exclude the biggest sources of electronics waste – laptops and mobile phones.
With annual product lifecycles for most flagship models, smartphones make up 10% of all of the world’s electronics waste. Meaning this exclusion leaves an astonishing hole in the new laws. Leaving the likes of Samsung, Google and Apple (the latter having one of the industry’s worst repairability records) to carry on regardless of their environmental impact.
Criticism toward manufacturers for designing and manufacturing near impossible-to-fix devices is nothing new. The industry defended its position by claiming repairs were difficult due to the ever-decreasing size of their products and increasing intricacy of their hardware. Despite such claims, there’s only one inevitable product of bad repairability – waste.
Meanwhile, leaving consumers shouldering the high costs of buying new devices when they reach their built-in obsolescence.
The right to repair? We’ve still a way to go…
While the recent legislation is certainly a step in the right direction, electronic products are going to have to be redesigned and repackaged for the public, in order for them to be more repairable – and there is a pretty long way to go.
This is most evident in the lack of product information available for consumers in terms of design and price, causing barriers to at home repairs.
Professionals in the repair industry have brought attention to the increasing costs of obtaining the correct spare parts for white goods, as a primary factor of dissuading people to dispose of an electronic device – rather than having it repaired.
As the new legislation doesn’t include any limits on manufacturers for what they can charge for spare parts, this isn’t likely to encourage change anytime soon. Furthermore, it does very little in any other areas to make professional repairs more attractive financially; such as removing VAT – which would help create savings that could be passed onto the consumer.
Adding to the woes, the new laws allow the bundling of components that work in unison. So, for example, if the thermostat in your fridge freezer were to stop working, you may have to replace the entire compressor if they are interconnected. Meaning the owner could be faced with repair costs very comparable to that of buying a whole new machine – even though the compressor is perfectly functional.
The final nail in the coffin diluting the potential effectiveness of the ‘right to repair’ movement is the regulations only cover a few of the devices we use day to day. In the main – washing machines, dishwashers, fridges and electronic screens (i.e. monitors and televisions).
Furthermore, the new rules only cover new models, there are absolutely no requirements to make spare parts or repair manuals available for products already on the market.
That said, there is a slither of hope on the horizon with ongoing work over at the EU to introduce repairability requirements to traditionally ‘unrepairable’ devices (such as as smartphones, laptops, tablets etc.) however, there is zero indication as of yet, if the UK will follow our nearest neighbour’s lead.
What’s your take on the ‘right to repair’ movement?
The start of a DIY electronic revolution?
Or toothless legislation ?
– we’d love to hear your thoughts.