Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Barriers, enablers and market governance : A review of the policy landscape for repair of consumer electronics in the EU and the U.S.

Svensson-Hoglund, Sahra ; Richter, Jessika Luth LU ; Maitre-Ekern, Eléonore ; Russell, Jennifer D. ; Pihlajarinne, Taina and Dalhammar, Carl LU (2021) In Journal of Cleaner Production 288.
Abstract

Many strategies have been proposed to support the transition to a Circular Economy (CE). In most cases, circular design and product life-extension practices specify repair as an essential element. In both the EU and the U.S., policymakers are attempting to increase the amount of repairs made, through the introduction of recent EU Ecodesign regulation changes and proposed US Right to Repair legislation. This review explores the current policy landscape for repair services by first outlining legal and market barriers to stakeholder participation in repair activities, and which stakeholders are affected. The review reveals a wide range of fundamental obstacles to both supply and demand of repair, including Intellectual Property, Consumer,... (More)

Many strategies have been proposed to support the transition to a Circular Economy (CE). In most cases, circular design and product life-extension practices specify repair as an essential element. In both the EU and the U.S., policymakers are attempting to increase the amount of repairs made, through the introduction of recent EU Ecodesign regulation changes and proposed US Right to Repair legislation. This review explores the current policy landscape for repair services by first outlining legal and market barriers to stakeholder participation in repair activities, and which stakeholders are affected. The review reveals a wide range of fundamental obstacles to both supply and demand of repair, including Intellectual Property, Consumer, Contract, Tax and Chemical laws, along with issues of design, consumer perceptions and markets. Subsequently, the current and proposed policy solutions to address barriers and increase repair activities are reviewed. A comparative assessment of the EU and the U.S. is followed by a discussion on the current repair market governance structure, which is found to be primarily centralized (i.e. repair services concentrated with manufacturers), with possible implications for upscaling repair. New policy proposals challenge this governance. Introducing the concept of a Repair Society Framework as a market transformation tool, we comprehensively discuss the current state of repair and provide an outlook for research and policy in this area.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Circular economy, Ecodesign, Electrical and electronic equipment, Market governance, Repair, Repair society
in
Journal of Cleaner Production
volume
288
article number
125488
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85098473469
ISSN
0959-6526
DOI
10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125488
project
Creating a repair society to advance the Circular Economy – policies, networks and people
Circular Economy: capturing value in waste through extended producer responsibility policies
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b1ef42cd-de29-4de6-9949-28ba9cbc1e29
date added to LUP
2021-01-12 14:56:19
date last changed
2022-05-12 17:26:58
@article{b1ef42cd-de29-4de6-9949-28ba9cbc1e29,
  abstract     = {{<p>Many strategies have been proposed to support the transition to a Circular Economy (CE). In most cases, circular design and product life-extension practices specify repair as an essential element. In both the EU and the U.S., policymakers are attempting to increase the amount of repairs made, through the introduction of recent EU Ecodesign regulation changes and proposed US Right to Repair legislation. This review explores the current policy landscape for repair services by first outlining legal and market barriers to stakeholder participation in repair activities, and which stakeholders are affected. The review reveals a wide range of fundamental obstacles to both supply and demand of repair, including Intellectual Property, Consumer, Contract, Tax and Chemical laws, along with issues of design, consumer perceptions and markets. Subsequently, the current and proposed policy solutions to address barriers and increase repair activities are reviewed. A comparative assessment of the EU and the U.S. is followed by a discussion on the current repair market governance structure, which is found to be primarily centralized (i.e. repair services concentrated with manufacturers), with possible implications for upscaling repair. New policy proposals challenge this governance. Introducing the concept of a Repair Society Framework as a market transformation tool, we comprehensively discuss the current state of repair and provide an outlook for research and policy in this area.</p>}},
  author       = {{Svensson-Hoglund, Sahra and Richter, Jessika Luth and Maitre-Ekern, Eléonore and Russell, Jennifer D. and Pihlajarinne, Taina and Dalhammar, Carl}},
  issn         = {{0959-6526}},
  keywords     = {{Circular economy; Ecodesign; Electrical and electronic equipment; Market governance; Repair; Repair society}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Journal of Cleaner Production}},
  title        = {{Barriers, enablers and market governance : A review of the policy landscape for repair of consumer electronics in the EU and the U.S.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125488}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125488}},
  volume       = {{288}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}