As we’ve shared previously, the UK parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has spent more than a year investigating the growing issue of e-waste. You may remember completing their survey over the summer or the Fixfest UK session where we tuned in to watch Ugo give evidence during a hearing.
Today, the EAC published their final report, which takes on board many of the issues we’ve all raised as members of the the repair community and calls for the Right to Repair 
Specifically, the report calls on the government to:
- Enshrine the Right to Repair in law, including affordable spare parts and access to software tools used for repairs
- Emphasise the need for manufacturers to commit to consumers on length of software support
- Consider reducing VAT for repairs
It also makes recommendations for improving the collection of electronic waste, including suggesting a massive shift away from weight as the key metric in e-waste collection (this could eventually have big implications for any community repair groups who work with local authorities).
The government now has two months to respond to the report.
This could be a really important moment for Right to Repair in the UK, and you can find Restart’s full reaction and more analysis here:
You can also read the committee’s own summary of the report here:
And finally, find the full report itself here