How is the issue being resolved?
In the fight against planned and perceived obsolescence, ‘Take back’ laws are appearing all over Europe and Asia, and there are some similar laws in the US. The ‘take back’ law is where companies are forced to take back all of the waste they create, including all their products once they have become obsolete. The aim of this law is to make manufacturers decide it would just be easier and cheaper to eliminate excess waste and make their products recyclable than to have to dispose of all the waste. In ‘The Story of Electronics’, Annie Leonard supports this law by saying;
“When we go along with [planned obsolescence] it’s like we’re looking at this toxic mess and saying to companies ‘you made it, but we’ll deal with it’... how about ‘you made it, you deal with it’? Doesn’t that make more sense?”
-Leonard, 2010
Someone else trying to make planned and perceived obsolescence obsolete is the European Union (EU), an institution looking into the benefits of banning planned obsolescence. They say that they would like to see a complete ban on planned obsolescence. They say that banning planned obsolescence is also beneficial to business, as most products suffering from planned obsolescence have been manufactured outside Europe by underpaid workers, however throwing away less would mean having to repair more, resulting in thousands of jobs closer to home. Thierry Libaert, French member of the EESC and professor at Paris’s Institute of Political Sciences, states that;
“Companies should make goods easier to repair through the supply of replacement parts for example, and that consumers should have better information about a product’s estimated life expectancy… By tackling this issue, the EU would be offering its companies a way of standing out from its competitors by effectively putting sustainability into practice... Our purpose is to help improve confidence in our European businesses. But at the same time, the EESC wants to drive the EU towards an economic transition from a wasteful society to one that is sustainable, where growth is geared towards consumer needs.”
- European Environment and Packaging Law, 2013
But there are ways the average person can help too. You can do any or all of the following to help beat planned and perceived obsolescence:
What is the potential impact if this issue is not resolved?
- Treat manufacturer replacement date recommendations with suspicion, unless of course it’s a safety issue
- When something seems broken or depleted, use the internet to find alternatives or a cheap fix
- Look after your stuff. Items tend to wear out faster if they aren’t properly maintained
- Manufacturers won’t provide much information for maintenance unless it’s going to make them money - things like lubricating, dusting or tightening a loose screw can extend the life of products, saving money and also saving just that little bit more trash entering the waste stream before it really needs to
- Buy long life products
- Go for quality
- Go for products with good materials
- Look for recyclability
- Look for a company promise
- Buy second hand goods
- Get your items regularly serviced
- Be sure to fulfil the lifecycle of the product
What is the potential impact if this issue is not resolved?