Right to Repair and How It Reduces Electronic Waste

In the last five years, the amount of electronic waste created worldwide has increased by 26%. China has the highest amount of electronic waste, producing 11.2 million tons of it in the last year alone. This number is higher than in other countries due to the size of its population. In the US alone, 7.1 million tonnes of it is being added to the count. Really, this issue needs to be addressed, and the best way to start is by educating people about the dangers of electronic waste and how much each country is contributing to the problem. It’s essential that we take steps to reduce the amount of electronic waste produced each year.

So, what can you do as an individual to try and reduce the amount of thrown-away electronics? Well, apart from just recycling them as usual, why not participate in your right to repair?

What’s the Right to Repair Movement?

The Right to Repair Movement is a grassroots effort to increase consumer access to repair parts, tools, and information for their electronics and appliances. This is a consumer-driven effort to ensure that consumers have the right to repair their own products instead of relying on manufacturer-authorized service centers or third-party repair shops. In the United States, the Right to Repair Movement has been gaining momentum since 2012, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) launched its “Right to Repair” campaign.

How Does This Movement Reduce the Amount of Wasted Electronics?

Essentially, the Right-to-Repair movement is an effort to protect the rights of consumers to maintain and repair their own products. It seeks to make sure that manufacturers and companies make their products available to consumers so they can fix their products themselves and extend the lifespan of their products instead of having them buy new products. As a result, this movement also aims to reduce the amount of electronic waste by allowing consumers to repair their own products rather than having to buy new ones.

Apart from just this movement alone, several companies have implemented ESG standards and trade-in programs to encourage people to recycle their old gadgets instead of simply discarding them. They did this upon realizing that people would rather just toss their devices rather than try to recycle them. With such programs, now there are incentives to recycle! This helps to reduce the amount of e-waste and makes it easier for people to dispose of their electronics in a safe, sustainable way.

That being said, the Right-to-Repair movement is gaining momentum, and governments are encouraging sustainable practices. While there is no national Right-to-Repair framework in the United States, several states are actively working on it. If manufacturers embrace Right-to-Repair principles, customers will likely benefit from longer-lasting products.

Conclusion

All in all, if you have any devices and IT assets that you’re planning to toss into the bin, don’t do that. Rather, why not get it fixed up or even sent to a recycling service? That way, you end up wasting fewer electronics as a result, not to mention cutting down on the environmental impact that you could’ve caused if you were to simply toss the device away!

Atlanta Green Recycling offers a complete and cost-effective recycling solution for both residential and commercial clients. If you are looking for electronics recycling in Atlanta, schedule a pickup with us today!