French repairability index- Right to repair

Sustainability is the #1 priority for governments and business alike. There are lot of product and service innovations which promote the concepts of circular economy – reduce, reuse, recycle.
One key aspects aligned to this thinking id REPAIR.
France has been leading the way through its world’s first Right to Repair initiative.
About the initiative

In 2019, the French government adopted a law regulating the mandatory display of clear information for consumers on the repairability of electrical and electronic equipment.
The objective of the index is to encourage consumers to choose more repairable products, and manufacturers to improve the repairability of their products.
It applies to 5 categories of products sold in France after 1 January 2021 including:

1. Smartphones
2. Laptops
3. Televisions
4. Washing machines
5. Lawnmowers

What aspects does the index assess?

The index assesses 5 criteria:

1. Documentation
2. Disassembly
3. Availability of spare parts
4. Price of spare parts
5. Product-specific aspects

Key focus areas

As a key part of France’s national strategy to extend products’ lifespan, this
repair index serves to address obstacles to repair, and is in line with other regulatory instruments, such as the repair fund to reduce its cost, or the obligation to make spare parts available.
The reparability index is a self-declared score calculated by the manufacturers themselves,
using a standard assessment grid provided by the Ministry of Ecological Transition (MTE). Control by the market and by official authorities is crucial to avoid unfair competition and deception of consumers, but also to achieve the environmental benefits associated with repair

Key takeaways

Key takeaways for other business from the:

1. Government intervention – Ways to improve sustainability in environment by integrating with business drivers and economics
2. Behaviour change – Ways to challenge the throwaway culture with repair and reuse
3. Stakeholder collaboration – Innovative approach to bring different stakeholder groups to compete for new business opportunity in repair in high cost countries

Boundaryless Thinking triggers
French government uses a transparence index to trigger behaviour change and promote fairness in competition

Reference

https:// repair.eu/news/the-french-repair-index-challenges-and-opportunities/
https:// www.halteobsolescence.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Rapport-indice-de-reparabilite.pdf