PACKAGING
‘Right to Repair’ legislation is having an impact on consumer goods manufacturers and spare parts stockists in at least four States in the US, and those waves are being felt too, by OEMs in Europe and the UK. By Jo Bradley, business development manager at Sparck Technologies
P 16
erhaps not before time, the backlash against the ‘disposable society’ is in full swing. This is great news for the environment – not so great for the many companies who will face some serious packaging problems.
For many decades, ‘spares and repairs’ has been an industrial orphan – across a wide range of consumer goods, and indeed commercial equipment, it has been cheaper to send a broken item to landfill and buy a replacement rather than to have it repaired. In many cases the design and manufacture renders even simple repairs not just economically prohibitive but physically impossible. But under pressure from both consumers and regulators, this is changing.
In the US, at least four States have brought in versions of ‘Right to Repair’ legislation. In the European Union, the European Parliament early last year adopted a Directive extending existing laws to require manufacturers, initially of common household goods from washing machines to smartphones, either to repair damaged items, or to make spare parts, tools and instructions available to consumers and third party repair shops ‘at reasonable prices’. In the UK, major retailers including Currys (electricals/electronics) and the
Spring 2025 UKManufacturing
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