The Right to Repair
Alongside ideas like re-use and re-purpose, repair has a core role to play in building circularity into our economy and society.
The emergence of a “throw-away society” has forged an economy that encourages manufacturers to create short-lived assets, often with built-in obsolescence, and constructed using techniques that prioritise cheap manufacturing processes rather than durability, to sustain a small margin high volume business model. In turn, this has led to an outsourcing of manufacturing to low-wage economies and an erosion of the artisan and craft skills necessary to repair and fix worn and broken products to prolong their useful life.
What once were assets are now commodities.
This has happened in the space of a lifetime. I can recall, being old, my father fabricating new parts for a car from scratch, an engineer, not a parts swapper. The time frame is small enough, however, for many young people to have an appetite to re-establish some of that tradition before it is lost forever. Youtube is full of repair sessions and craft skill tutorials gathering thousands of hits. Repair Cafes are springing up across the UK through the extraordinary efforts of people like Oliver Heath who founded the Restart Project back in 2012. By the way - don't forget International Repair Day 2023 falls on the 21st of October!
This brings me to the Right to Repair.
Repairers everywhere face the results of those fast, cheap manufacturing techniques. Items are often irreparable.
Covers won't open without the specialist kit, replacement components aren’t available, warranties are invalidated, regulations won't permit it, plans are obscure, and skills being scarce. You get the picture.
The right to repair is the idea of a legal right for owners of devices and equipment to freely modify and repair them. Often thought of in relation to electrical products it goes much further than that.
The right to repair is gaining momentum around the world. In the United States, there are currently right-to-repair bills pending in several states. The European Union is also considering legislation strengthening the right to repair. The legislation has the potential to make a significant difference in the fight against electronic waste and the promotion of sustainable consumption.
So, what can we learn from the Global South? To an extent it has taken a different path and traditions of repair are still strong largely out of economics of necessity. The repairing activity has persisted there and is an accepted part of life. On our trip to learn about techniques for solving wicked problems, we will look closely at some of those good traditions and learn from their approaches, and you can join us in that.
Despite the tradition still persisting in India, the government has sought to strengthen the approach. The ‘Right to Repair’ portal developed under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs (MCA) allows citizens to have their gadgets and vehicles repaired. The portal is like a one-stop shop which provides warranty-related and post-sales information, provided by the consumer brands, to the consumers in India. The website covers four key sectors, namely farming equipment, mobiles and electronics, consumer durables and automobile equipment.
This step builds upon a well-established practice of repair and reuse and a thriving community of repairers.
Since July 1 2021 The UK Government brought in new Right to Repair rules, meaning manufacturers must make home products such as washing machines and dishwashers easier to repair. Manufacturers are now legally obliged to make spare parts for products available to consumers for the first time - a new legal right for repairs - so that electrical appliances can be fixed easily. A YouGov poll coinciding with the launch of the legislation showed that in Great Britain, an overwhelming majority (81 per cent) supported an extension of the right to repair for electronics, such as smartphones and laptops, design for repair, access to spare parts and repair documentation. It also evidenced some activity in trying to repair, most noticeably in apparently less challenging items like furniture.
But there is still much work to be done if we are to embed this approach as a core plank to develop more circularity. Awareness needs to grow, techniques developed, and a community of fixers needs to be built.
Join us in Mumbai to learn from their example, experience the community of fixers at work, and bring home actionable insight to solve wicked problems here.