What Exactly Is the Right to Repair Act?

The 2021 Right to Repair Act was designed to force companies that make washing machines, fridge/freezers, dishwashers and televisions to make repair information and spare parts available, to stop 300,000 tons of electrical waste being thrown out by households and business each year.

Before this, many companies glued parts in, so you couldn’t repair them.

But this law excludes phones and laptops. And other companies try to get around the law, by offering expensive repair kits. It helps to buy a more sustainable smartphone (designed to last years, with repair services as standard).

In Norway, a one-man repair shop lost a 3-year battle with Apple (despite local people funding his court bills) after he repaired their goods ‘without permission’ nor using official parts.

The new UK law still lets makers charge for spare parts (and has not removed VAT for professional repairs). So in many cases, it still costs more to repair goods than to buy new (which many people cannot afford).

The new law also bans some volunteer-run repair cafes (below) from access to professional repair manuals. And all this in a country that produces more e-waste per person in the world, bar Norway.

Recently Apple signed up to the California Right to Repair Act. But reviewers note the new iPhone only has four components that can be replaced without impacting function. iFixit found iPhone 15 ‘riddled with software locks’, if parts were not replaced with Apple-purchased parts.

I was given a kettle, which now leaks. I could mend it. If only I could tighten the base. But one of the screws has a star-shaped slot with a spike in the middle, which is designed to prevent repairs, as no available tool will fit it.

So I will throw it away, and help to build an earthly paradise, by buying a new one. George Monbiot