RIGHT TO REPAIR
No quick
fixes
As cleaning businesses seek faster and more cost-effective ways to repair machinery and equipment, advocates are calling for Australia to adopt progressive Right to Repair laws that could empower consumers and limit waste. Words Cameron Cooper
F
rance has emerged as an unusual source of hope as cleaning industry operators express frustration at a throwaway culture that can make it all but impossible to get machinery and equipment repaired. From January 1 last year, the Macron Government introduced a Repairability Index, as part of an Anti-Waste law, requiring manufacturers of devices such as smartphones and laptops to give their products a score on a ‘repairability index’ on a scale of one to 10. The mark indicates how easy it is to fix a product and access spare parts and technical documents. Supporters of the concept include Professor Leanne Wiseman, an intellectual property law expert at Griffith University in Brisbane. 38 INCLEAN May / June 2022
She believes the Repairability Index can serve as a litmus test for other nations seeking to increase the lifespan of products and minimise waste. Rather than simply dumping devices and machinery that need minor repairs, the goal is to transition countries and businesses to a more circular economy in which products are fixed and re-used. In tandem, there is the potential to foster more trained technicians for everything from smartphones, cars and tractors through to cleaning industry machines such as vacuum cleaners, robotic sweepers and scrubbers. “The Repair Index gives you a guide when you buy a fridge, for example, as to whether you’ll be able to get a mechanic to come and fix it or not. That’s really influencing consumer decisions at the point
of purchase,” says Professor Wiseman, Chair of Repair Australia, a peak body that is bringing together repair stakeholders and championing legislative and policy changes to respond to the international right-torepair movement which wants to stop corporations from forcing consumers to buy new items instead of repairing old ones.
CONSUMER RIGHTS TO THE FORE
In Australia, the Productivity Commission has released its findings following an inquiry into right-to-repair issues. The government body has found there are “significant and unnecessary barriers” to consumers’ rights to repair products and it has recommended changes to consumer and copyright laws that would make repairs of products cheaper, easier and less wasteful (see panel).