I did think of adding this to the thread on plastic but this is different enough to stand on its own, IMO.
From BBC:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2...voidable-waste
France is making right to repair legislation and repair cafes more popular. It will be interesting to see how widely this approach spreads over the next few years. I would love to use my iPhone and Macbook Air without concern of built-in obsolescence.
"The French capital hosts a dozen of these so-called "repair cafes" – free, monthly initiatives that allow local residents to fix household objects and electronics with the help and advice of enthusiastic volunteers. Pioneered by journalist Martine Postma in Amsterdam in 2009, hundreds of similar workshops take place across Europe...
But significant amounts of that waste could be avoided through repairs. According to a study by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency, only 40% of electronics breakdowns in France are repaired. But surveys have found nearly two-thirds of Europeans would rather repair their products than buy new ones. Much like Imene's kitchen scales, French officials believe the current system is broken and needs to be fixed...
In an effort to defuse this vast amount of avoidable waste, France's National Assembly last year voted to introduce an index of "repairability" ratings for appliances such as washing machines, lawnmowers, televisions and smartphones. In doing so, the French government hopes to increase the electronics repair rate to 60% within five years...
Preliminary studies suggest the rise of repairs could have a huge impact. Analysis by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a network of environmental citizens' organisations in Europe, found that extending the lifetime of all washing machines, notebooks, vacuum cleaners and smartphones in the EU by one year would save four million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually by 2030 – the equivalent of taking two million cars off the roads each year.
For those in the grassroots cafes of Paris, however, the reality of repairs is another world entirely. Lively chatter, the scent of fresh pastries and the clank of tools fill the room, with around a dozen of the repair stations occupied by participants.
"They told me this couldn't be fixed," says Caroline, a local resident, waving a form from a manufacturer stating that her 20-year-old sewing machine is irreparable. "But we've identified the problem in a matter of minutes. Things work best when we take matters into our own hands."