For months, Stéphane's pretty red coffee maker has been sleeping on a shelf in his cellar.
The model is however recent and signed by a major household appliance brand.
But when she started to flee to her base, there was no way she could find a store to have her repaired when the warranty had obviously expired.
Then death in the soul, Stéphane replaced it with a new one.
It is to avoid this kind of disappointment that the government adopted, within the framework of the anti-waste law, the principle of a repairability index.
This rating from 1 to 10 lets you know at a glance whether your washing machine, TV, laptop or smartphone can be easily repaired.
Until June 4, an information campaign is available in the form of television spots to explain to consumers how this new logo works and the value of repairing rather than throwing it away.
How do you know if it's fixable?
The operation, called “Our objects have full futures”, is mainly based on the site www.longuevieauxobjets.gouv.fr.
A wealth of information where we learn for example that the higher the repairability index of the object you buy, the easier it will be to repair it.
Or that "having a television that has broken down can be repaired saves 90 kg of CO2, or the equivalent of 350 km by car".
A logo in five different colors representing a wrench and a nut: according to Ademe, this repairability index is found on nearly 1,500 references in major retailers.
DR
Several criteria are taken into account to determine the level of repairability of your device: the price of spare parts, their availability period, the dismantling of the device (the necessary tools, fixings, the number of dismantling steps, etc.) as well as the availability of technical documentation.
The Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe) estimates that this new index of repairability - a logo in five different colors, bright red or dark green, representing a wrench and a nut -, is found already on nearly 1,500 items in major retailers: around 80% of washing machines, more than 85% of smartphones, 65% of televisions and around 50% of computers have been displayed since January 2021.
Can you do it yourself?
Before changing broken down equipment, 85% of French people say they have considered repairing it.
But repair is still a practice that is not very anchored in our habits.
According to Ademe, for a product broken down in all categories, only 36% of French people repair it against 54% who replace it.
The lack of information and visibility of repairers is cited by 25% of those questioned.
Hence the success of the site www.sos-accessoire.com which has contributed to maintaining or repairing two million household appliances since its creation in 2008. Leader in France in self-repair, this site provides technical advice in particular , in the form of videos, on the best way to repair your dryer that no longer starts, to reattach the oven door or repair your dishwasher as well as access to thousands of spare parts.
At what price ?
"The majority of our customers have never touched a screwdriver or pliers, come first to fish for information and find themselves in 50% of cases to be able to repair their device without having to change a part, underlines the manager. founder of the Olivier de Montlivault site.
And when they still have to buy a spare part, the average basket rises to 25 euros for devices that are sometimes worth several hundred.
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Beyond the economic interest that consumers have in repairing their objects, the Minister of Ecology sees in this simple approach an obvious benefit for the planet.
“By repairing, we avoid the premature purchase of a new product and we save resources,” explains Barbara Pompili.
"We walk on the head throwing away tons of electronic equipment or household appliances each year, the lifespan of which could very well be extended by a few years," Olivier de Montlivault says. Repairing them is a virtuous step at little cost which has another enormous advantage: when you manage to repair on your own, with your ten fingers, a device that no longer works, you are as proud as Artaban… ”