I know EU has the Right to Repair initiative and that’s a step to the right direction. Still I’m left to wonder, how did we end up in a situation where it’s often cheaper to just buy a new item than fix the old?
What can individuals, communities, countries and organizations do to encourage people to repair rather than replace with a new?
A few reasons.
First, ease of repair isn’t a major reason for people to buy certain products. Because consumers don’t purchase on ease of repair for a lot of products, it doesn’t get prioritized in design. The cost of screws over glue may not be worth it if only a small part of the customer base wants screws.
Second, an OEM supply chain is a cost that a lot of people don’t want to pay. It may be cheaper to replace or refund a product than create a supply chain to fix items.