In business, however, the project is met with rejection. At EU level, there are already guidelines for the repairability of certain products. The managing director of the German Retail Association (HDE), Stefan Genth, told the Handelsblatt: “If the federal government now goes beyond that at the national level, that makes no sense.” That leads the European single market “ad absurdum”.
The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) pointed out that the EU Commission had recently started a consultation on promoting the repair and sustainability of products. The deputy DIHK general manager, Achim Dercks, told the Handelsblatt: “In the interests of the common EU internal market, politicians in Germany should therefore refrain from going it alone, since the discussion about the “right to repair” is rightly being conducted at European level”. .
The deputy head of the Union parliamentary group, Steffen Bilger (CDU), sees it similarly. It is “a good thing” if manufacturers can ensure better repairability without increasing costs for consumers and without product quality suffering, Bilger told the Handelsblatt. “However, I fear that the Federal Environment Minister is throwing the baby out with the bath water: in a single market, something like this must definitely be tackled at European level.”
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The first right to repair laws in the EU came into force in March 2021. Since then, televisions, dishwashers, washing machines and refrigerators have had to meet stricter repairability requirements. Manufacturers are also obliged to keep spare parts available for seven to ten years and to design the products in such a way that they can be opened and repaired without special tools.
Lemke advocates a “repairability index”
The aim is to reduce the enormous amounts of electronic waste that accumulate in Europe every year. On average, every German citizen produces more than ten kilograms of electronic waste every year. According to the European Parliament, only 42 percent of the e-waste generated in the EU is recycled.
What to do if the battery is empty or the display shatters? Repairing electronic devices such as smartphones is often difficult.
(Photo: dpa)
SPD, Greens and FDP are now going one step further. They have decided that in future consumers should also have a right to repairs for small devices such as mobile phones and laptops.
“We ensure access to spare parts and repair instructions,” says the coalition agreement. “Manufacturers must provide updates during normal usage hours.”
According to the coalition agreement, the goal is to make the service life and repairability of a product a “recognizable feature of the product property”. According to Lemke, in the future nobody should have to throw away a working mobile phone just because the battery is no longer working. The minister advocates a “repairability index” that shows how easy a product is to repair. She referred to France. There has already been progress there.
An index was introduced in France at the beginning of last year that uses various criteria to provide information on how easy it is to repair smartphones, laptops, televisions, lawn mowers or other devices. As she puts it, Lemke wants to “develop it in a European context and introduce it in Germany”.
Competitive disadvantages for German manufacturers feared
The digital association Bitkom thinks little of focusing only on repair-friendly products. Managing Director Bernhard Rohleder told Handelsblatt: “The longevity of devices is not only defined by their ability to be repaired, but overall by high quality and reliability”. The most important thing is therefore to avoid defects from the outset by taking technical precautions. The bottom line is that this is good for the environment.
Conversely, the environmental balance of a “right to repair” could become negative if in future all spare parts were produced and stored on stockpile, Rohleder continued. “The devices will then definitely be more expensive, and the jumps in costs will be greatest in the lower price segment.”
The DIHK also points out the disadvantages for many companies, which consist in the fact that stocking spare parts requires additional storage space and ties up financial resources. “This can ultimately lead to a competitive disadvantage for German and European manufacturers,” said Deputy General Manager Dercks.
>> Read here: Flat battery, broken display: why the fight against electronic waste is failing
The Mittelstandsverband BVMW is particularly concerned about small companies. For them it is first of all “a question of costs, whether a device can be repaired with reasonable effort or has to be replaced,” said the federal managing director of the association, Markus Jerger, the Handelsblatt.
Which makes repairs easier
The rapid technical development also speaks against a general “right to repair”. This can be seen in the example of mobile phones, explained Jerger. “Customers always prefer flatter and also waterproof devices, which makes it difficult to repair them easily.”
Bitkom hopes for a European solution. That’s where the discussion belongs, said Managing Director Rohleder. Addressing the Federal Government, he added: “Anyone who thinks that they can set worldwide standards from the German market, which is of lower priority on a global scale, is on the wrong track.” No manufacturer produces specifically for a market like Germany or bases its product design on it, its processes or even its supply chains and spare parts warehouse.
More: Smartphone with a five-year guarantee – Fairphone wants to be greener than Apple and Samsung.