Abstract
The increasing amount of waste from electrical and electronic equipment and the resulting environmental issues are challenging, since product life cycles are too short, and companies continue to rely on linear (business) models. The Circular Economy is an approach to meet these challenges by extending the product lifetime. One way to extend the product lifetime is to repair them. However, since there has been no detailed research on the repair sector yet, this article aims at conducting a repair study in Germany to understand the repair process and get insights into typical failure patterns. Therefore, we analyze the repair sector’s current barriers from different perspectives, especially of customers and businesses. We discuss the results of the repair study, where 382 repair attempts were conducted, with a total success rate of 55%. Moreover, the participants were interviewed to understand their barriers and motivation for repair. Based on the study’s interim findings, recommendations for action are given to make the repair services more attractive for the repairer and customer. Based on the findings, an interdisciplinary approach to improve repair processes by using a digital repair portal is derived.
Highlights
Introduction iationsElectrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has become an essential part of everyday life and is indispensable in modern societies
The equipment sent for repair consisted largely of HiFi/Audio and TV, with 69% and
The average cost of spare parts was approximately 19.30 € per repair; the costs could not be determined for all procurements
Summary
Introduction iationsElectrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has become an essential part of everyday life and is indispensable in modern societies. The average lifetime of EEE is decreasing to under five years currently, which results in steadily increasing amounts of electronic waste [3]. The average lifetime is decreasing, and many devices are being replaced, even though they still work well or can be repaired [3] This leads to a huge amount of WEEE. 98 million metric tons of CO2 -equivalents are released from discarded refrigerators and air conditioners that are not disposed of in an environmentally sound manner alone. This is approximately 0.3% of global energyrelated emissions [1]. Without the intent by its owner, EEE becomes WEEE once it has been discarded and generates one of the fastest growing waste streams [20]
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