IT Repairs and Reuse Declaration

The UK is the second highest producer of electrical waste per person, therefore, this International Repair Day, 21st October 2023, over 110 groups have signed up to a new Repair and Reuse Declaration calling for support to move away from our throwaway economy. 
 
Techbuyer, is amongst the groups and organisations signing the IT Repairs and Resue Declaration, calling for the UK government to improve legislation on product lifespan extension.  
 
Coordinated by The Restart Project, the Declaration is supported by local repair cafes, the Design Council, Keep Britain Tidy and other NGOs, as well as businesses including Techbuyer and SUEZ , Music Magpie, eBay, Backmarket. It calls on the UK government to make it easier for people to repair products and pass them on to others for a second life. MPs are being invited to endorse the declaration to increase government support and tackle our growing waste.  
 
To celebrate Repair Day, 79 fixing events are happening in the UK, with repair cafes taking place from the North of Scotland down to Cornwall. Across the world, over 1,000 waste-busting repair events are being held, including the premiere of a new children's drama on repair in the Netherlands, a human vs AI fixing battle in Berlin and refugee-led training on electrical fixing for women in Uganda.  

Why are IT Repairs and Reuse Important?
 

Repairing more is an important way of tackling climate change, cutting down on waste while saving people money along the way. Yet repair is not accessible to everyone. Beyond repair events and manufacturer approved repairs (that are often expensive), there are few options for people that want to get their things fixed, particularly when we look at electronics and IT equipment. 
 
E-waste is also a prime example of a problem growing out of control. E-waste is the fastest growing domestic waste stream in the world, with over 57 million tonnes heading to landfill every year. In landfill, it is not only the devices that go to waste, but also the valuable resources that are needed to produce further products, including lithium and gold.  
 
As a provider of sustainable IT solutions, Techbuyer works to divert e-waste from landfill by repairing and refurbishing IT hardware. We believe in a thriving second hand market for IT hardware; refurbished data centre equipment has been proven to perform as well as, and as efficiently as, new and with component level upgrades, they add years onto the lifespan of a range of devices.

 

Techbuyer's Life Cycle Services 
 

At Techbuyer, we are currently working towards our target to divert 4,000,000 kilos of e-waste from landfill as part of our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Currently, since 2019, we have diverted 85% of this target. However, there is more work that needs to be done and that is why the Repair Declaration is an important step to provoke legislative action. 

"People should be able to access affordable repair services for the products they buy. In the EU and parts of the US, this is being recognised in law, but it is not yet on the political agenda in the UK and not part of mainstream practice. We would like this to change." - Astrid Wynne Rogers, Head of Sustainability at Techbuyer
 
A YouGov poll commissioned for Repair Day found that only 28% of Brits were able to successfully fix, or have fixed, their last electrical item that broke. The poll showed strong support for the government to act on repair, with 85% support for the UK’s Right to Repair regulations to be expanded to all appliances and devices, and all policies recommended in the Repair and Reuse Declaration seeing at least 79% support. 47% of those polled didn’t try to or were unable to repair their last broken electrical item. The top reasons were that repair was too expensive (38%), and that it was quicker to replace it (33%). 1
 
Without readily accessible repair options, people are wasting money buying new products during a cost-of-living crisis, meanwhile our waste mountain is growing. The Repairs and Reuse Declaration calls for change within our legislation to promote healthier habits surrounding the goods we buy and own.  

Find out about Techbuyer's life cycle services, designed to extend the lifespan of technology and decrease the environmental impact of our devices here. 

This article has also been published by the Data Centre Alliance, Yorkshire Times and Lancashire Times who are all working to bring awareness towards this initiative. 

1. 1 The poll figures are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,051 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 12th - 13th October 2023. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). Support indicated for the policies in the declaration was in response to the question: To what extent, if at all, would you support or oppose each of the following Government policies to keep electrical products (phone, lamp, vacuum cleaner) being used for longer?