According to a research report by Waste Dive, an American electronic waste recycling organization, establishing a "Right to Repair" bill for electronic products and requiring electronic product manufacturers to provide product repair manuals and repair parts will reduce the output of electronic waste. The biggest promoter of quantity.
Since 2014, five states in the United States - South Dakota, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Nebraska have proposed similar "right to repair" bills for electronic products, but these bills have all failed, and electronic products have failed. Product brands including Apple, Cisco and Xerox actively lobbied against these bills during the proposal stage.
Gay Gordon-Byrne, general manager of the Maintenance Association, pointed out in the report that in the absence of market competition from repairers, electronic product manufacturers will set repair prices more expensive than buying new machines directly, so that manufacturers will be profitable. picture.
The world produces more than 20 million tons of electronic waste every year, and the United States alone produces approximately 3.4 million tons. The U.S. EPA estimates that the growth of electronic waste is 2-3 times that of other waste regulated by waste disposal laws.
The Maintenance Association has long been committed to advocating and promoting the right to repair electronic products. In addition to reducing the output of electronic waste, it also strives for employment rights for electronic product repair technicians. Electronic product repair company iFixit estimates that if the Right to Repair Act is officially enacted, it will not only effectively reduce the amount of electronic waste, but also increase 200 maintenance jobs while repairing 1,000 tons of second-hand electronic products. This is recycling (manufacturing 15 job opportunities) and burial (<1 job opportunity) can bring unparalleled contributions to the domestic job market.
Source:Environmental Leader (2016-09-26) (PIDC compilation)
