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Repair, don’t replace: EU takes aim at throwaway culture

01 May 2024

It’s no secret that the products we use every day are getting harder and harder to fix. Why bother to repair when it’s so much easier and cheaper to replace?

Sophia Bell, Group Editor
Sophia Bell, Group Editor

The answer is, of course, the huge amount of waste this creates. The European Commission reports that the EU generates approximately 35 million tonnes of waste and consumes 30 million tonnes of resources every year. 

In fact, the UK holds the dubious honour of being the world’s second-highest producer of electrical waste, producing 24kg per person every year. Who said we were under-achievers?! 

This isn’t from a lack of willing or awareness on the consumer’s part, either. In fact, 77 percent of EU consumers would rather repair their goods than buy new ones, according to a 2020 Eurobarometer survey. However, repairing often proves to be difficult – if not impossible – thanks to extortionate costs, as well as lack of access to spare parts and documentation. 

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to sustainability, however, lies in the way in which products are designed in the first place.
Obsolescence is rife in the consumer goods industry: electronic products, in particular, are purposely designed to fail after a certain period of time, or amount of use, to encourage users to buy a new model. On top of that, tech giants, such as Apple, adopt a policy of ‘parts pairing’ which prohibits the use of third-party replacement parts. 

Recognising this problem, the EU Parliament has now officially agreed upon new legislation aimed at incentivising individuals to repair, rather than replace, goods.


Read the full article in DPA's May 2024 issue



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