About the Guidance Tool

Working together to reduce the mountain of electric and electronic waste

The number of electrical and electronic devices that we own and use is steadily increasing. In 2019, a household in Western Europe owned an average of 79 devices!

As the number of appliances increases, so does the amount of electronic waste caused by those appliances. Did you know that on average, an adult generates more than 9 kg of this type of waste every year? And that each newly purchased appliance also has an impact on the environment?

Choose to repair instead of replace

The appliances that we throw away often contain items that can be repaired, and thus saved from the rubbish heap.

So why doesn't this happen? you ask. 

There may be several reasons for this: 

  • it is easier and quicker to buy a new appliance
  • it costs too much to have the appliance checked by the manufacturer or a professional repairer, and you don't know whether there is still a chance to save it.
  • you have had your appliance checked, but the necessary spare parts are too expensive or not available.
  • ...

 

Whatever the reason, in the context of this project we noticed that as consumers we are often unaware of the different options that are available to repair a broken device.

Explaining repair possibilities

We want to do something about this with this Guidance Tool. After all, there are many ways to repair: 

  • Have it repaired: at a professional repairer in your neighbourhood
  • Repair together: in a Repair Café in your neighbourhood
  • Repair yourself: repairing, those who do their best will learn.

Have it repaired, repair it together

Firstly, we want to give consumers a better idea of the diversity of possibilities and options when it comes to repair. This way, the map shows relevant players in the neighbourhood, whether they are Repair Cafés or professional shops.

Repairing by yourself

Repairing broken electrical and electronic appliances is a world in itself. Whereas our grandparents used to be in the habit of repairing anything that broke, today we have become much more reluctant to do so. Appliances have become more and more complex, and repairing them is no longer even encouraged by manufacturers.

Nevertheless, there are still many things that you can do yourself as a consumer, or that are easy to repair. And many a repairer will tell you that making things is satisfying and fun! 

On this platform, we focus mainly on those who like to experiment and try to fix things, but do not immediately know how to start. By sharing some basic techniques and solutions for a range of product categories, we want to give you that push you need to give recovery a try. Try, experiment, learn. Before you know it, you'll have caught the repair bug, and may well end up on the other side of the table in the Repair Café in your community.

Sharepair: digital support infrastructure for citizens in the repair economy

Repair Guidance is an initiative taken by various partners within the framework of the European Interreg project Sharepair, which wants to take repair to a higher level in the years to come: with a repair guide (online), a central repair workshop, 3D printing of spare parts, and many other actions to move towards sustainable and circular cities.