Right to Repair | SAIGON GIAI PHONG NEWSPAPER

Consumers in the European Union (EU) will have the right to require electronic equipment manufacturers to repair their products under regulations agreed by the European Parliament (EP) and EU member governments on February 1.

Accordingly, within the 2-year warranty, consumers can choose to repair or replace the product if it has a technical defect. The manufacturer will have to repair the product free of charge during the warranty period if the product can still be repaired and the repair cost is lower than the cost of replacing the device. The regulation also requires manufacturers to provide affordable device repair services within 5-10 years from the date of sale.

The regulation, which will come into effect this year, applies to a wide range of electronic products, such as mobile phones, tablets, washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, electronic screens, vacuum cleaners, data storage devices, etc. The EU plans to add electric bicycle batteries to this list. The regulation also requires EU member states to implement at least one measure to promote repair, such as providing repair vouchers, establishing repair funds, or supporting local repair initiatives.

It is estimated that the number of products such as dishwashers, televisions and mobile phones that are thrown away despite still being usable in EU countries leads to up to 35 million tons of e-waste per year. Meanwhile, the cost of buying new replacement devices costs more than 13 billion USD per year. For this reason, consumer and environmental groups have long urged the EU to tighten regulations to ensure that companies have easier options for repairing their products.

By finding common ground on the right to repair regulation, the EU has shown its efforts to “fix” the negative impacts caused by humans. The EU hopes that the new regulation will not only reduce the number of technological products thrown away to protect the environment, but also help create jobs and reduce the bloc’s dependence on foreign sources of raw materials.

PEARL

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