Circularity meets consumer power in the tech repair fight

As the circular economy movement gathers steam, right-to-repair advocates have notched a series of recent wins, including a raft of right-to-repair laws moving forward in U.S. states.

Tech device-makers have responded with designs and practices that keep materials in use longer and consumers happier. 

Among 25,000 new products at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, a throwaway musical lollipop and a “smart” fridge without handles stood out in the unofficial “Worst in Show” awards. Repair watchdogs created the dubious honors to spotlight wasteful, impractical products they want the industry to stop making.

“We see that businesses are moving away from treating a product’s end-of-life as a liability,” said Jennie Romer, North America director of policy for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation of England. “Instead, they are looking at how upstream design — strategic decisions made regarding material choice, standardized components and product architecture — can preserve value through multiple lifecycles.”’

The average American laptop lasts only four years. Adding one year to that lifespan would eliminate emissions equivalent to removing 250,000 cars from the road, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).

The key is making stuff easy to fix. 

“There is no sustainability without repair,” said Gay Gordon-Byrne, executive director of the Repair Association of New Jersey. “Everything breaks, and unless you can fix it, it’s a throwaway — and all of the energy that went into building it is wasted.”

Tech transition

The 2022 culmination of iFixIt’s years-long “Battle of Apple” campaign marked a turning point, according to the Chattanooga-based nonprofit’s founder, Kyle Wiens. “The iPhone 14 became easier to repair than earlier generations and its adhesives are easier to remove.” 

Under regulatory and reputational pressures from pro-repair campaigners, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Logitech have made adjustments, including easily removable gadget batteries and easy-to-find manuals.

Repair rules

Since 2020, seven states including California, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Oregon have passed laws that force companies to publish a manual, or simplify swap out a dead battery or a broken touchscreen. Similar laws come into effect in Washington and Colorado this year, and a fresh slate of proposals is emerging in other states.

Federal regulations are still lacking.

Overseas, the European Union’s Right to Repair Directive starts phasing in this year. Last year, the EU began requiring smartphones and laptops to show details about repairability, battery life and durability.

Canada’s recently amended copyright law allows people to bypass digital locks on products to make repairs.

Baking repairability into design

Among the businesses treating repairability as a core factor in design is Logitech: The Swiss electronics brand partners with iFixIt to offer spare parts and repair guides for computer mice, gaming headsets and keyboards.

“The goal was to institutionalize repair so that it becomes normal, repeatable and durable,” said Mohamed Abokersh, circularity program manager in sustainability at Logitech. “Right to repair connects directly to design because the repair experience is locked in long before a product ships.” 

That means designing product housing that opens non-destructively with simple fasteners and access points rather than glues or proprietary screws. It also includes “modularizing” parts that tend to fail or wear out, such as batteries, cables, headbands, ear cushions and ports.

Such tactics build brand loyalty, according to Abokersh. “When customers can repair their devices, they feel respected. Clear instructions, fair access to genuine parts and no artificial blockers signal that you actually support them, not just at purchase but long after.”

Another competitive advantage: Repair data shows companies which products and parts fail, helping to create a continuous improvement loop, according to Abokersh. 

“Treat repair as a cross-functional program, not a sustainability side project,” Abokersh said. “Repair only works when product, engineering, after-sales, legal, compliance, supply chain, customer support, and sustainability move together.”

In addition to thoughtful design, Romer of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation praised service-based business models for creating new circularity-related advantages.

“In this model, the manufacturer is financially incentivized to design for durability and easy repair, as any downtime or replacement cost comes off their bottom line,” she said. “This is a strategic hedge because when you own the hardware, you own the critical minerals inside it, creating a closed-loop supply chain that is resistant to global market volatility.”

Lagging behind

Some electronics companies still appear to be in denial about the need to change products or practices to comply with repairability mandates, according to activists. 

“We’re definitely seeing some hostile compliance techniques, where companies are doing exactly the letter the law, but not the spirit of the law,” said Nathan Proctor, senior director of the right to repair campaign for PIRG in Massachusetts. But the business risks are adding up.  

In California, for example, fines escalate as non-compliance continues, from $1,000 per violation per day for first offenses up to $5,000 for a third strike. Multiply that across thousands or even millions of users.

“And I will just warn you, we have a track record of passing more laws,” Proctor said. “If you want more laws governing your industry, go ahead and dare us to pass more.”

Companies can’t hide from states attorneys general forever, said Gordon-Byrne. “The crystal ball says this is a very popular thing. People want to fix their stuff.”