We brought the repair community back to Parliament

Right to repair: policy & activism
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Originally published at: https://therestartproject.org/right-to-repair/repair-reuse-declaration/we-brought-the-repair-community-back-to-parliament/

Yesterday, we took repair back into Parliament. This is the third year in a row we’ve teamed up with Back Market to invite MPs to get hands on and talk about why repair and reuse matter.

But this time felt more important. For the first time in years we may soon have a Circular Economy Strategy that prioritises repair and reuse – and which will be a basis for campaigning around reducing waste for years to come. So we were delighted to be able to take this year’s repair cafe to another level.

A montage of three photos: two people holding a toaster; two people sitting at a table covered in tools; a woman speaking at a lecturn in a room full of people;
A montage of three photos: two people holding a toaster; two people sitting at a table covered in tools; a woman speaking at a lecturn in a room full of people;640×348 309 KB

Political support for repair reaches a new high

This year we booked the iconic (and large) Terrace room, which meant we could invite representatives from more than 100 of the UK’s community repair groups. We had a school group there with Team Repair who demonstrated how their kits are teaching young people how to repair. We had fixers who helped MPs get hands on with repair. And we were able to celebrate over 100 MPs signing up to the Repair and Reuse Declaration. This number grew of course during the event from 112 MPs at the start, to 143 by the end.

And responding to the political opportunity, the chance to meet constituents and experience repair, and the 2500 people that e-mailed asking them to attend, we had a record number of parliamentarians come along: a massive 91 MPs in total!

Many of these MPs either signed the declaration, or offered to support our ongoing efforts to secure strong policy to support repair – or both.

A montage of three photos: a person speaking from a lecturn to a crowded room of people; two people holding a sign that reads "I support the Right to Repair"; a group of children sitting at a table
A montage of three photos: a person speaking from a lecturn to a crowded room of people; two people holding a sign that reads "I support the Right to Repair"; a group of children sitting at a table640×348 337 KB

What comes next?

Crucially, this show of political and public support did not go unnoticed by those in charge of the UK’s Circular Economy Strategy. Circular Economies Minister Mary Creagh even came to speak at the event. We don’t yet know what will be in the upcoming Circular Economy Growth Plan, but here’s a reminder of what we’ll be looking out for:

  • Will the plan do anything to reduce the cost of repair? As we’ve discovered in our trial of an Electrical Repair Voucher Scheme with ReLondon, reducing the cost of repair is not only effective at encouraging local residents to repair, but it’s also a crucial support for local repair businesses. Many of these struggle to compete with the low cost of new products, while the design of these products makes them harder and more costly to repair.
  • Will our right to repair laws catch up with those of our neighbours? Right to Repair regulations in the EU now cover smartphones and tablets, stating that spare parts must be available for 7 years and software updates for 5, and devices must endure 800 battery charge cycles and survive being dropped 45 times. The UK needs to at least align with these, and other, laws – or even better, go further.
  • Will the plan do anything to keep in use the huge number of working products that are currently being shredded for recycling? In a 2023 study of products destined for an electrical waste bin, we found that almost half of the products sent to be shredded for recycling weren’t even broken, or could have been easily repaired. This level of waste must be addressed by repair and reuse targets, and we hope to see a pathway towards these in the plan.
  • Will the plan boost repair skills? The repair workforce is diminishing as skilled technicians reach retirement, but with the right support, we can encourage a new generation of people to become fixers. At the Fixing Factories we’ve developed with Possible, we’ve seen the popularity of repair training. Government intervention, like support for accreditation and apprenticeships can help to build repair skills at scale.

We hope it’ll be an improvement on the current regulations. But we know there will be many areas that will need an extra push to achieve the measures that we want. Not least, will the plan build on and support the amazing work that is already going on out there to give our things a second life?

From community Repair Cafes to global platforms for reselling refurbished tech, the circular economy is happening. We just need the barriers removed and the right support for us to benefit from it at scale.

So we as we wait for the plan to be announced, we will continue building political and public support for an economy that works for people and planet.

 

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