The right to repair is now provided for by European legislation

Home appliance companies will have to guarantee the user the possibility of repairing them within a period of ten years.

In Europe, since March 1, 2021, all the companies that sell home appliances, such as refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines or televisions, must guarantee the user the possibility of repairing them within a period of ten years.The rule is the result of a proposal from the European Parliament in support ofcircular economy which aims to encourage the definition of more stringent rules on right to repair.These rules come following the increase in the production of electrical and electronic devices which have generated an increase in waste associated with them.

What the legislation provides

The regulation approved by the European Commission provides that all "manufacturers or importers will now be obliged to make a series of spare parts for an item available to repair professionals for at least 7-10 years after the last unit of a model has been placed on the EU market" .In a logic opposite to that ofplanned obsolescence, European Commission and Parliament intend to promote a longer life of the products through theirs reuse And repair.

THE waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are those that are increasing most rapidly in Europe and are recycled with a percentage of less than 40 percent.Among the obligations envisaged is also that of making available the technical manuals for professionals and understandable instructions even for amateur repairers, who enjoy the classic do-it-yourself domestic.

A first step

It is clear that this is an important first step against waste.However, the repair requirements, even with the new legislation, only apply to some product categories.They are not among these smartphones And laptops, perhaps among the most subject to forced obsolescence.

Another critical issue is given by the fact that i delivery times for spare parts they are generally very long, we are talking about about 15 working days for a broken washing machine or refrigerator.Definitely too many considering how essential goods of this kind have become in our daily lives.Finally there is no reference to prices of spare parts.