Flashmob for the right to repair on January 8 in Brussels

Open Repair Alliance members iFixit and The Restart Project are amongst the organisers of a flashmob on Tuesday 8 January from 8.30 to 9.30am in Brussels, asking all EU member states to adopt more ambitious repair criteria for dishwashers and washing machines. Find all information on The Restart Project’s website. Join the event in person if you can and share it with others.

The votes on dishwashers and washing machines are part of the ongoing season of votes by all EU member states which are for the first time bringing repairability requirements for manufacturers of products to be sold in Europe. In December, initial criteria were agreed for fridges, televisions and lighting, setting a precedent: requiring manufacturers to make products easier to disassemble for repair, and providing repair information and spare parts for at least 7 years after a model is discontinued. However, successful pressure from industry lobby groups has severely limited access to spare parts and repair information for non “professional” repairers, while granting manufacturers the final say on who qualifies as “professional”.

The vote on washing machine is particularly important, given that they’ve been increasingly designed to make it hard if not impossible to repair.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*
*