Right to Repair framework ‘should back LG, community repairers’

Support for local government and community repair schemes should be a cornerstone of any future Right to Repair framework, an ALGA submission says.

Right to Repair is a regulatory
framework entitling consumers to have their consumer durables repaired by a
repair shop or service provider of their choice, as well as being able to
repair simpler products themselves with commonly available tools.

The Productivity
Commission is currently looking at barriers to repair services and arrangements
for preventing premature or planned product obsolescence and the proliferation
of e-waste.

In a submission to the PC inquiry filed this week, the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) said making it easier for consumers to fix broken or faulty electrical or electronic devices will lead to less waste and resource use.

“Each year, local government collects and receives around nine million tonnes of waste, sorts it at material recovery facilities (MRFs), dispatches what can be recycled to reprocessing facilities, resells what can be reused through community-based ‘green shed’ programs, and landfills the remaining portion,” the submission noted.

“Local governments, therefore, have a
major interest in diverting waste from landfill, and in principle support the
proposition, expressed in the Inquiry’s consultation paper, that improving the
right to repair will potentially lead to improved environmental outcomes due to
less resource use and waste.”

ALGA’s submission also suggests, among other things, that the PC:

• review
  product stewardship legislation to ensure repair and reuse are prioritised in
  schemes;
• introducing
  subsidies and tax concessions for repair/repairers;
• enacting
  laws prohibiting planned product obsolescence; and
• requiring
  original equipment manufacturers to provide independent repairers fair access
  to parts, tools and/or repair information.

 As co-author of the National Waste Action Plan
(2020), ALGA advocated for the adoption of the “waste avoidance
hierarchy” (reuse, repair, recycle before disposal) as the guiding
principle in developing an Australian “circular economy”.

The ALGA submission notes that community-based repair has the potential to contribute significantly to increased rates of repair.

“The partnership between 21 councils and the NSW product repair organisation Bower provides a useful case study in supporting active household involvement in repair and the circular economy,” it says.

“The 21 Sydney metropolitan councils have service agreements with Bower, and pay the organisation a fee (based on the number of households serviced) to collect, repair, and sell-on items at lower prices.

“They [the councils] also promote and invite residents to Repair Cafes and pay Bower for the service.”