In today’s ‘throw-away economy’, consumers have largely lost both the ability and the right to repair broken items. Recent research from the European Commission shows that we collectively lose almost €12bn per year in replacing items which have broken.
I was reminded of this when my hoover recently stopped working. I loved that hoover and it was only two years old. We used to have a local repair hub, but now you need to e-mail the central hub, wait weeks for a response, and then decide if it’s worth spending over €200 (and waiting several more weeks) to have it repaired.
I hate prematurely buying new things, but it seems like it’s almost always the more efficient option. Luckily, the tide may be turning in consumers’ favour and it may become much easier to have our electronics and appliances repaired, rather than binned.
Right to Repair
In November 2023, the European Parliament overwhelmingly passed a draft legislation for new rules which will make it easier for consumers to repair electronic and electrical goods. All Irish MEPs voted in favour of this new Right to Repair directive.
It plans to place new obligations on producers and sellers which will require them to have items repaired. It also aims to make repairs easier and cheaper for consumers to avail of after an item’s warranty expires.
When the draft bill for the Right to Repair directive was passed, Dublin MEP Ciarán Cuffe stated that he welcomed a law which might end, “throwaway culture”.
Dublin MEP Ciarán Cuffe, along with the other Irish MEPs, voted in favour of the Right to Repair directive.
“Poor quality goods that break easily and can’t be repaired have been flooding the market in recent years, and it’s not good enough,” he said at the time. “Sellers will have to offer a better deal for fixing goods like washing machines, fridges, hoovers, and even bicycles for an extended period of time.
“Consumers will be able to save hundreds of euros, while businesses will be encouraged to innovate and make goods that last longer. This move could cut millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions, and save huge amounts of precious resources that are used to produce replacements.”
Directives vs regulations
When new laws are passed at a European level, they take two possible forms: as directives, or as regulations.
Regulations require immediate roll-out within each European member state. If a directive is passed, member states have two years to roll it out. The Right to Repair directive will go through final negotiations before it is officially passed. This is meant to happen relatively soon, though the Right to Repair Europe Coalition tells Irish Country Living that member states are, “currently trying to block the EU Parliament’s ambition” as there are vested interests, particularly around something called “parts-pairing” (where items cannot use generic replacements).
Cuffe’s office in Brussels says he expects to see the final draft of this directive in April. Once that final version is passed, Ireland will have two years to bring the directive into effect, meaning we will potentially see its full effects in 2026.
The list of items covered under the directive include:
Washing machines, washer-dryers, dishwashers
Refrigerating appliances
Electronic displays
Welding equipment
Vacuum cleaners
Servers and data storage products
Mobile phones, cordless phones, tablets
Bicycles
Rediscovery Centre
The directive might be two years off, but there are already groups in Ireland who are active in our own Right to Repair movement.
The Rediscovery Centre (rediscoverycentre.ie) is Ireland’s national centre for the circular economy. Claire Downey is their policy and research director. She says the movement aims to make repairs both accessible and affordable for everyone in the country.
“The idea is that access to repair should be universal and can prevent countless damaged items from being unnecessarily discarded,” she says. “Repair is often a less convenient and more expensive option than replacement, despite having a much smaller impact on the environment.
“The design of products can also, deliberately or otherwise, prevent repair,” she adds. “For example, some products have a ‘planned obsolescence’ where they are ‘built to break’ to encourage the purchase of new items.”
Once the directive is operational, there will be a number of measures which will be required of member states. One, Claire says, is having an online “matchmaking platform” which can connect people seeking repairs with those who can repair said item.
“In Ireland, we already have repairmystuff.ie, which largely complies with this requirement,” she says. “Another important point for the Irish consumer is that you can request a repair from the product manufacturer even if the product is outside of the legal guarantee.”
Claire tells Irish Country Living that the directive does have some limitations, however, one being that repair should be prioritised over replacement, but (in most cases) only when it is the cheaper option.
“As repair is often more expensive than replacement, this may not provide any further incentive for repair over replacement,” she says.
Farming repairs
The farming community has been championing repair over buying new for decades; however the list of items mostly appear for domestic use.
“Farmers are definitely ahead of the curve when it comes to repair,” Claire agrees. “Farmers will not be guaranteed to be able to fix farming machinery outside of the legal guarantee, although there is scope in the directive to add product types in the future, which means farming machinery could be added down the line.
“The American Farm Bureau Federation [AFBF] spent several years campaigning for the right for farmers to repair their machinery in the US,” she continues.
“This culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] with tractor manufacturers John Deere, which allowed farmers to repair machinery using independent repair services.
“MoUs based on this original document have now been signed by all the major players in the US, including Case New Holland, AGCO, Kubota and Claas. Inteerstingly, 75% of the tractor market in the US is now covered by these documents. This sets a valuable precedence for the right to repair in Europe.”
To learn more, visit the Right to Repair movement website or social media channels: repair.eu.
Repair Cafés
Claire Downey is the policy and research director at The Rediscovery Centre in Dublin.
Claire says the movement is disappointed in the lack of recognition provided to community repair activities.
“Repair cafés are free community events in which volunteers repair broken items that are brought in by members of the public,” she says. “There are nearly 3,000 of these events in the world, mostly in Europe, so they are a large and still growing source of repair services.
Claire says there are, “at least 14 repair cafés in the Republic of Ireland” but they have issues obtaining insurance.
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In today’s ‘throw-away economy’, consumers have largely lost both the ability and the right to repair broken items. Recent research from the European Commission shows that we collectively lose almost €12bn per year in replacing items which have broken.
I was reminded of this when my hoover recently stopped working. I loved that hoover and it was only two years old. We used to have a local repair hub, but now you need to e-mail the central hub, wait weeks for a response, and then decide if it’s worth spending over €200 (and waiting several more weeks) to have it repaired.
I hate prematurely buying new things, but it seems like it’s almost always the more efficient option. Luckily, the tide may be turning in consumers’ favour and it may become much easier to have our electronics and appliances repaired, rather than binned.
Right to Repair
In November 2023, the European Parliament overwhelmingly passed a draft legislation for new rules which will make it easier for consumers to repair electronic and electrical goods. All Irish MEPs voted in favour of this new Right to Repair directive.
It plans to place new obligations on producers and sellers which will require them to have items repaired. It also aims to make repairs easier and cheaper for consumers to avail of after an item’s warranty expires.
When the draft bill for the Right to Repair directive was passed, Dublin MEP Ciarán Cuffe stated that he welcomed a law which might end, “throwaway culture”.
Dublin MEP Ciarán Cuffe, along with the other Irish MEPs, voted in favour of the Right to Repair directive.
“Poor quality goods that break easily and can’t be repaired have been flooding the market in recent years, and it’s not good enough,” he said at the time. “Sellers will have to offer a better deal for fixing goods like washing machines, fridges, hoovers, and even bicycles for an extended period of time.
“Consumers will be able to save hundreds of euros, while businesses will be encouraged to innovate and make goods that last longer. This move could cut millions of tonnes of CO2 emissions, and save huge amounts of precious resources that are used to produce replacements.”
Directives vs regulations
When new laws are passed at a European level, they take two possible forms: as directives, or as regulations.
Regulations require immediate roll-out within each European member state. If a directive is passed, member states have two years to roll it out. The Right to Repair directive will go through final negotiations before it is officially passed. This is meant to happen relatively soon, though the Right to Repair Europe Coalition tells Irish Country Living that member states are, “currently trying to block the EU Parliament’s ambition” as there are vested interests, particularly around something called “parts-pairing” (where items cannot use generic replacements).
Cuffe’s office in Brussels says he expects to see the final draft of this directive in April. Once that final version is passed, Ireland will have two years to bring the directive into effect, meaning we will potentially see its full effects in 2026.
The list of items covered under the directive include:
Washing machines, washer-dryers, dishwashers
Refrigerating appliances
Electronic displays
Welding equipment
Vacuum cleaners
Servers and data storage products
Mobile phones, cordless phones, tablets
Bicycles
Rediscovery Centre
The directive might be two years off, but there are already groups in Ireland who are active in our own Right to Repair movement.
The Rediscovery Centre (rediscoverycentre.ie) is Ireland’s national centre for the circular economy. Claire Downey is their policy and research director. She says the movement aims to make repairs both accessible and affordable for everyone in the country.
“The idea is that access to repair should be universal and can prevent countless damaged items from being unnecessarily discarded,” she says. “Repair is often a less convenient and more expensive option than replacement, despite having a much smaller impact on the environment.
“The design of products can also, deliberately or otherwise, prevent repair,” she adds. “For example, some products have a ‘planned obsolescence’ where they are ‘built to break’ to encourage the purchase of new items.”
Once the directive is operational, there will be a number of measures which will be required of member states. One, Claire says, is having an online “matchmaking platform” which can connect people seeking repairs with those who can repair said item.
“In Ireland, we already have repairmystuff.ie, which largely complies with this requirement,” she says. “Another important point for the Irish consumer is that you can request a repair from the product manufacturer even if the product is outside of the legal guarantee.”
Claire tells Irish Country Living that the directive does have some limitations, however, one being that repair should be prioritised over replacement, but (in most cases) only when it is the cheaper option.
“As repair is often more expensive than replacement, this may not provide any further incentive for repair over replacement,” she says.
Farming repairs
The farming community has been championing repair over buying new for decades; however the list of items mostly appear for domestic use.
“Farmers are definitely ahead of the curve when it comes to repair,” Claire agrees. “Farmers will not be guaranteed to be able to fix farming machinery outside of the legal guarantee, although there is scope in the directive to add product types in the future, which means farming machinery could be added down the line.
“The American Farm Bureau Federation [AFBF] spent several years campaigning for the right for farmers to repair their machinery in the US,” she continues.
“This culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] with tractor manufacturers John Deere, which allowed farmers to repair machinery using independent repair services.
“MoUs based on this original document have now been signed by all the major players in the US, including Case New Holland, AGCO, Kubota and Claas. Inteerstingly, 75% of the tractor market in the US is now covered by these documents. This sets a valuable precedence for the right to repair in Europe.”
To learn more, visit the Right to Repair movement website or social media channels: repair.eu.
Repair Cafés
Claire Downey is the policy and research director at The Rediscovery Centre in Dublin.
Claire says the movement is disappointed in the lack of recognition provided to community repair activities.
“Repair cafés are free community events in which volunteers repair broken items that are brought in by members of the public,” she says. “There are nearly 3,000 of these events in the world, mostly in Europe, so they are a large and still growing source of repair services.
Claire says there are, “at least 14 repair cafés in the Republic of Ireland” but they have issues obtaining insurance.
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