the Right to Reparation does not only involve the consumer

Repairing rather than buying new requires repair-friendly product design. For iServices, the success of the circular economy also involves changes on the manufacturers’ side.

THE iServices is a company that operates in the national market in the repair of telecommunications and computer equipment since 2011. This type of company welcomes the growth in demand for repairing electronic equipment and by the purchase of refurbished equipment🇧🇷

This company currently accounts for more than ten thousand repairs per month in multi-brand equipment in our country, a contribution that guarantees that it will respond to the growing concern that national consumers show with the sustainability of resources on our planet.

But this ecological concern does not seem to have spread to the electronic device industry, which continues to hamper the work of companies such as iServices🇧🇷 In recent years, manufacturers have not been shy about creating proprietary parts, creating products that cannot be opened without being destroyed, or making devices obsolete by ending support for old software.

With the IoT (the internet of things) this scenario has also spread to common home appliances. But as products have become more difficult to repair, movements have emerged in the US and European Union calling for the Right to Reparation.

O Right to Repair Europe for example, it has become a real consumer flag. The movement shows how a new anti-consumption mentality requires the industry to make real commitments for the durability of the equipment it produces.

In this sense, the EU has already launched for public discussion its priorities for the New Consumer Agenda, whose final directives are scheduled for the third quarter of 2022. One of the priorities is to strengthen the Right to Reparation, seen as one of the fundamental goals to achieve the circular economy by 2050.

Right to Reparation: what future?

Although the current European law already guarantees some rights to repair and replace equipment purchased in the European area, the new proposal aims to reinforce these rights. The aim is to ensure that any European consumer can repair their faulty product, either by themselves or by handing it over for repair to a company or technician of their choice. For this, it is necessary to make electronic products increasingly repairable, thus increasing their life cycle.

Manufacturers with new rules

On the negotiating table are the following proposals:

– the manufacturer should be obliged to give free access to both consumers and companies such as iServicesinformation on repair and maintenance of your equipment;

– the manufacturer must guarantee the software update for a minimum period of time;

– the manufacturer must produce products that are more durable and easier to repair, including parts that can be removed and replaced;

– warranties will be extended.

Consumers can gain from repair

The aim is that the new measures can make repairing more profitable than replacing it with a new one, a situation that is currently not very common. In this sense, initiatives are also being considered to make repairs more attractive to consumers, offering bonuses to those who choose to repair and not buy new ones, or offering replacement equipment during the repair period.

iServices: it is necessary to extend the scope of the directives to all market participants

Adapting companies to the new concept of making to last can be a challenge in a system that favors replacement and makes repairs more expensive. In this sense, the Ecommerce Europethe platform that gives voice to the European digital commerce sector, has already come to ask the EU not to limit the new Right of Reparation directives only to the consumer’s perspective.

The objective is to extend the scope of these directives, so that they take into account the concerns of all stakeholders in the market, including repair companies such as iServices🇧🇷

Changing the way products are manufactured and marketed in the EU is as important as guaranteeing Consumer Rights of Reparation, if the objective is to foster the circular economy that the planet so desperately needs.

It is therefore requested, by those who work in the sector, that the Commission also give priority to the promotion of design repair-friendlyessential to facilitate repair and access to individual replacement parts, and to promote sustainable repair services.

For iServices, the objective will always be to encourage consumers, producers and repair companies to make an efficient ecological transition in the medium and long term.

If electronic waste (e-waste) is currently the fastest growing in the world and if, in Europe alone, almost 4.8 million tons of this waste is improperly disposed of every year, including through illegal export to developing countries (source 2019 Eurostat) the role to be played by a European market for repair services and second-hand goods will be no less than paramount.