Futures Forum: Right to Repair campaign to reduce the electronic and electrical rubbish mountain
Futures Forum: Make do and mend > 'blending the thrifty satisfaction of fixing stuff with green ideals of reusing and recycling'
Right here in Sidmouth we have our very own Repair Café at the forefront of helping folk to mend things that would otherwise get thrown away:
Sidmouth Repair Cafe - Home | Facebook
Their Facebook pages feature a piece from the BBC - which highlights the point that 'newest/modern/latest' technologies are not necessarily the greenest:
Climate change: 'Right to repair' gathers force
By Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst
9 January 2019
Green groups say legislation under way in Europe and the US represents progress towards saving carbon emissions and using resources more wisely.
Libby Peake from the think tank Green Alliance told BBC News: “The new rules are a definite improvement. We think they could have been better, but it’s good news that at last politicians are waking up to an issue that the public have recognised as a problem for a long time. The new rules will benefit the environment and save resources.”
What has driven the changes?
The policies have been driven by some arresting statistics. One study showed that between 2004 and 2012, the proportion of major household appliances that died within five years rose from 3.5% to 8.3%. An analysis of junked washing machines at a recycling centre showed that more than 10% were less than five years old.
Another study estimates that because of the CO2 emitted in the manufacturing process, a long-lasting washing machine will generate over two decades 1.1 tonnes less CO2 than a short-lived model.
Climate change: 'Right to repair' gathers force - BBC News
In other words, this is about more efficient use of resources:
Embodied energy - Wikipedia
Manufacturing a car creates as much carbon as driving it | Environment | The Guardian
Resource Use | Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
And building a truly 'circular economy' will certainly help:
Fix the system - get a global 'circular economy' - Climate CoLab
Climate Change and the Life Cycle of Stuff | Climate Change | US EPA
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9 January 2019
How will it help the environment?
Green groups say legislation under way in Europe and the US represents progress towards saving carbon emissions and using resources more wisely.
Libby Peake from the think tank Green Alliance told BBC News: “The new rules are a definite improvement. We think they could have been better, but it’s good news that at last politicians are waking up to an issue that the public have recognised as a problem for a long time. The new rules will benefit the environment and save resources.”
What has driven the changes?
The policies have been driven by some arresting statistics. One study showed that between 2004 and 2012, the proportion of major household appliances that died within five years rose from 3.5% to 8.3%. An analysis of junked washing machines at a recycling centre showed that more than 10% were less than five years old.
Another study estimates that because of the CO2 emitted in the manufacturing process, a long-lasting washing machine will generate over two decades 1.1 tonnes less CO2 than a short-lived model.
Many lamps sold in Europe come with individual light bulbs that can’t be replaced. So when one bulb packs in, the whole lamp has to be jettisoned.
Isn’t it better to scrap an old appliance and buy a more efficient one?
This is no simple question. Resource analysts say, as a rule of thumb, if your current appliance is old and has a very low energy efficiency rating, it can sometimes be better in terms of lifetime CO2 emissions to replace it with a new model rated A or AA. In most other cases it produces fewer emissions sticking with the old model.
There’s another debate about how readily consumers should be allowed to mend appliances. The Right to Repair movement wants products that can be fully disassembled and repaired with spare parts and advice supplied by the manufacturer.
Some manufacturers fear that bungling DIY repairers will damage the machines they’re trying to fix, and potentially render them dangerous.
One industry group, Digital Europe, said: “We understand the political ambition to integrate strict energy and resource efficiency aspects in Ecodesign, but we are concerned that some requirements are either unrealistic or provide no added value. The draft regulations limit market access, deviate from internationally-recognised best practices and compromise intellectual property.”
What should I do with my broken kettle?
Isn’t it better to scrap an old appliance and buy a more efficient one?
This is no simple question. Resource analysts say, as a rule of thumb, if your current appliance is old and has a very low energy efficiency rating, it can sometimes be better in terms of lifetime CO2 emissions to replace it with a new model rated A or AA. In most other cases it produces fewer emissions sticking with the old model.
There’s another debate about how readily consumers should be allowed to mend appliances. The Right to Repair movement wants products that can be fully disassembled and repaired with spare parts and advice supplied by the manufacturer.
Some manufacturers fear that bungling DIY repairers will damage the machines they’re trying to fix, and potentially render them dangerous.
One industry group, Digital Europe, said: “We understand the political ambition to integrate strict energy and resource efficiency aspects in Ecodesign, but we are concerned that some requirements are either unrealistic or provide no added value. The draft regulations limit market access, deviate from internationally-recognised best practices and compromise intellectual property.”
What should I do with my broken kettle?
Climate change: 'Right to repair' gathers force - BBC News
In other words, this is about more efficient use of resources:
Embodied energy - Wikipedia
Manufacturing a car creates as much carbon as driving it | Environment | The Guardian
Resource Use | Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
And building a truly 'circular economy' will certainly help:
Fix the system - get a global 'circular economy' - Climate CoLab
Climate Change and the Life Cycle of Stuff | Climate Change | US EPA
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