Soon, some electrical and electronic devices will have a label that will help you, when purchasing, choose those that last the longest. A good one for your wallet and the environment!
Perhaps you’ve already been forced to reluctantly part with your electronic devices. A smartphone whose updates have been stopped, a washing machine that cannot be dismantled to change the worn part, a laptop that costs less to buy than to repair… All these situations are the consequences of planned obsolescence, an increasingly widespread practice among manufacturers – who clearly push for (over)consumption. In addition to costing you money, this practice has a huge impact on the environment. It is therefore urgent to find a way to encourage consumers and manufacturers to review the way they consume.
Until now, manufacturers were required to display a repairability index on many electrical and electronic products. It takes the form of a pictogram attached to the description of a product, with a score out of 10 calculated according to different criteria, such as the availability and price of spare parts or the technical documentation provided. However, it forgets to support certain elements. Because a repairable product does not mean durable. If a part of a machine breaks every year, it must be changed just as often, which does not make it eco-responsible consumption. The device that pollutes the least is the device that never breaks down.
Also, the Government has chosen to change the reparability index into a durability index, which will inform the consumer not only on the reparability of a product, but also on its ability to last over time. Finally, after numerous obstacles and twists and turns – notably from the European Commission – this new rating will come into force in January 2025 for televisions and in April 2025 for washing machines, via the anti-waste law for a circular economy ( AGEC law). A second wave of devices is expected to occur one day, including vacuum cleaners, electric lawn mowers, dishwashers and pressure washers.
Unsurprisingly, the durability index, in the form of a score out of 10, will use the traditional color code already used by the repairability index, going from red to green in order to make the index easier to read. The lower the score, the more the color will tend towards red and the less good the device will be for the environment. HAS Conversely, the higher the score, the more the color will tend towards green, and the more durable the equipment will be. The sustainability index must appear in stores and on commercial sites, and its size must be at least equivalent to that of the price. However, it will surely have to change its appearance once the EU has implemented its own index…