Your Right to Repair
By Olivia Merritt, recent NC State graduate
Right to repair laws seem sensible to most. Instead of having to take a car, phone, or computer to the manufacturer to fix an issue, a person can either fix it themselves or take their product to any third-party repair entity (someone other than the manufacturer). Currently, if you were to fix the device yourself or get your device fixed by a third-party, you will likely lose the warranty provided by the manufacturer. Furthermore, many products are intentionally designed to be unfixable without proprietary parts, or locked by software that prevents diagnostics and repair (John Deere being an infamous example). Additionally, think of the last time your phone or computer battery life declined; sometimes it’s as expensive to get a new battery as a new device. To create a more circular economy, we must incentivize easy, local repairs. It must be possible to get a device repaired from any verified professional without losing warranties and it has to be more cost-effective to repair an old device than buy a new one. This would align with the second principle of the circular economy: keep products in use.
Fortunately, an executive order was issued in July 2021 by President Biden that encouraged American companies’ competition, effectively reducing the power of monopolies in different industries. Among these issues were consumers’ right to repair. President Biden’s executive order stated that people owning vehicles and electronics will not lose their warranties if they get their product repaired with a third-party entity. This is a big win for the right to repair movement, but more can be done to encourage products to be used for longer and keep electronics out of the waste stream.
On November 25, 2020 the EU Parliament passed a resolution that included right to repair laws. The Parliament noted that high-quality products increase businesses’ competitiveness, encourage sustainable technology innovation, and that making products more repair-friendly could increase sustainable good demand, leading to cheaper product costs for consumers. Overall, the Parliament gave over thirty recommendations to further a more circular device market. Recommendations that could apply to creating a more circular electronics market in North Carolina are as follows:
The estimated lifespans of products should be clearly noted and understood before the product goes on the market, using a standardized methodology.
There should be mandated, clearly communicated labels on electronic products that detail their estimated lifespans and ease of repair.
When customers buy a product, they should also be told where to get spare parts and their average prices.
Appliances should align with the Ecodesign directive, a regulatory measure that the US could use to help create guidelines such as:
Standardizing spare parts. This would allow for electronics to be much more accessible for repair.
Providing a generous minimum time limit that customers can get a spare part for free based on the product lifespan. This encourages customers to get their product repaired instead of replacing it with a new one.
Second-hand goods should be incentivized by allowing, for example, a warranty to switch to the new owner if the original warranty hasn’t expired.
Regulations and warranties should be put in place for refurbished and used goods to ensure high-quality goods and consumer protection.
Financial aid should be provided to rental-service companies and repair shops to support their development throughout communities.
Photo credit: Science Direct
All of the above recommendations, if put in place, would allow for not only a thriving product repair industry, but an accessible one as well. Massachusetts is the only state that has a right to repair law; passed in 2013, it states that cars made in 2015 or later must make repair and diagnostic information available to customers and third-party auto repair shops. North Carolina, being home to Research Triangle Park and, soon, Apple’s first East Coast campus, could be a pioneer in right to repair laws that would protect consumers from difficult, expensive device repairs and encourage economic and job growth in the repair sector. Right to repair laws could be a trifecta solution: helping North Carolina reach its climate goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the electronic sector, creating economic growth, and implementing circular principles. Using the EU’s resolution as a resource, North Carolina should build upon President Biden’s executive order to create a fair, circular electronics repair system.
