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Anyone stock-piling broken electronics, waiting for a right to repair? (self.zerowaste)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by activistPnk to c/zerowaste

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I’ve been stock-piling electronics that either people throw away, or things I bought 2nd-hand only to find they are broken.

Looks like the right to repair law is in very slow motion. Not yet enacted be the European Commission. And once it is, member states have like 2 years to actually enact it in their law. Probably even more time before consumers begin to see results.

(edit) I think some US states were the first to enact right to repair laws. So some consumers could perhaps pretend to be from one of those states to demand things like service manuals. But parts and repair is likely more out of reach ATM.

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[–] activistPnk 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The right to repair (at least in the EU) is being written to facilitate both people who have the ability to repair and those who do not. If you do not have the ability to repair, the law will entitle you have the device repaired outside of the warranty for a reasonable price.

If you have the ability to repair, the law entitles you to manuals and parts, and the parts must be at a reasonable price.

I had a proprietary valve fail in a boiler. The valve should be under $10, but because the manufacturer bundles the valve with many other fittings people are forced to buy a kit that’s no less than $100. That’s one thing the right to repair should solve.

[–] Darkassassin07@lemmy.ca 14 points 2 months ago

If you have the ability to repair, the law entitles you to manuals and parts, and the parts must be at a reasonable price.

While true, I highly doubt this will apply retroactively. Manufacturers wont be forced to make parts available for existing/old tech; devices sold going forward will be required to maintain a supply of parts.

This will also apply to repair technicians not being able to get parts for old tech; so waiting to pass it off to a repair center won't solve this either.

All that is to say; if you can't find parts to repair it yourself now, there's not a lot of point stockpiling dead devices waiting on the law to change, as they won't really be affected by that change.