The UK is the second highest producer of electrical waste per person, therefore, this International Repair Day, 21st October 2023, over 100 groups have signed up to a new Repair and Reuse Declaration calling for support to move away from our throwaway economy.

Harrogate-based sustainable IT provider, Techbuyer, is amongst the groups and organisations signing the IT Repairs and Resue Declaration, calling for the UK government to improve legislation on product lifespan extension.

Coordinated by The Restart Project, the Declaration is supported by local repair cafes, the Design Council, Keep Britain Tidy and other NGOs, as well as businesses including Techbuyer and SUEZ , Music Magpie, eBay, Backmarket. It calls on the UK government to make it easier for people to repair products and pass them on to others for a second life. MPs are being invited to endorse the declaration to increase government support and tackle our growing waste.

To celebrate Repair Day, 79 fixing events are happening in the UK, with repair cafes taking place from the North of Scotland down to Cornwall. Across the world, over 1,000 waste-busting repair events are being held, including the premiere of a new children's drama on repair in the Netherlands, a human vs AI fixing battle in Berlin and refugee-led training on electrical fixing for women in Uganda.
Repairing more is an important way of tackling climate change, cutting down on waste while saving people money along the way. Yet repair is not accessible to everyone. Beyond repair events and manufacturer approved repairs (that are often expensive), there are few options for people that want to get their things fixed, particularly when we look at electronics and IT equipment.

E-waste is also a prime example of a problem growing out of control. E-waste is the fastest growing domestic waste stream in the world, with over 57 million tonnes heading to landfill every year. In landfill, it is not only the devices that go to waste, but also the valuable resources that are needed to produce further products, including lithium and gold.

As a provider of sustainable IT solutions, Techbuyer works to divert e-waste from landfill by repairing and refurbishing IT hardware. The company believes in a thriving second hand market for IT hardware; refurbished data centre equipment has been proven to perform as well as, and as efficiently as, new and with component level upgrades, they add years onto the lifespan of a range of devices.

Techbuyer are currently working towards their target to divert 4,000,000 kilos of e-waste from landfill as part of their commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Currently, since 2019, the company have diverted 85% of this target. However, there is more work that needs to be done and that is why the Repair Declaration is an important step to provoke legislative action.

Without readily accessible repair options, people are wasting money buying new products during a cost-of-living crisis, meanwhile our waste mountain is growing. The Repairs and Reuse Declaration calls for change within our legislation to promote healthier habits surrounding the goods we buy and own.

​Astrid Wynne Rogers, Head of Sustainability at Techbuyer: "People should be able to access affordable repair services for the products they buy. In the EU and parts of the US, this is being recognised in law, but it is not yet on the political agenda in the UK and not part of mainstream practice. We would like this to change."

Read the full declaration here or see all the companies and organisations involved in the project here.