DigitalEurope, a digital technology industry body that represents companies including Amazon, Apple and Google, declined to comment when contacted by BBC Future Planet. But a spokesperson referred to DigitalEurope’s position paper, which states that its “members have long led the way with environmental progress” and that it “stresses the need to ensure balanced requirements” for the right to repair.
The paper calls for any right of repair rules to be “proportionate, feasible, cost-effective, and respect business confidentiality” and argues that “manufacturers should continue to choose professional service replaceability through a network of certified technical partners”, who, it says, are preferable to third-party repairers for quality, business, safety and environmental reasons.
“We don’t believe these arguments stand up,” says Mikolajczak. “There’s no reason to think third-party repairs would result in injury. And if competing companies really wanted to look inside competitors’ devices, they wouldn’t need a third-party repairer to do this. Those restrictions simply make it more difficult and more expensive for consumers to repair devices.”
For those in the grassroots cafes of Paris, however, the reality of repairs is another world entirely. Lively chatter, the scent of fresh pastries and the clank of tools fill the room, with around a dozen of the repair stations occupied by participants.
“They told me this couldn’t be fixed,” says Caroline, a local resident, waving a form from a manufacturer stating that her 20-year-old sewing machine is irreparable. “But we’ve identified the problem in a matter of minutes. Things work best when we take matters into our own hands.”
—
The emissions from travel it took to report this story were an estimated 0.17kg CO2, travelling by metro. The digital emissions from this story are an estimated 1.2g to 3.6g CO2 per page view. Find out more about how we calculated this figure here.
—
Join one million Future fans by liking us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter or Instagram.
If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called “The Essential List”. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife, and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday.
