Data on products evaluated against the French repairability Index

Influencing consumer choices through a repairability index is a way to increase circularity in practise. In France in only 1 year the amount of products subscribing to the index increased by almost 20%.

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The chart shows the number of products that have been scored according to the French repairability Index — as shown by Spareka, a French company helping consumers repair their appliances by offering video tutorials, diagnostic tools and the sale of spare parts on their platform called “l’indice de reparabilité”. Besides Spareka, “Agora” and “Les Numériques” are similar online platforms providing an overview of products available in the French market and their repair scores.

The initial coverage of categories of electrical and electronic products, ordered by the number of scored products within each product category, were smartphones, front-loading washing machines, electric lawn mowers, televisions, and laptops. The number of products assessed and scored has increased from 1,201 in 2022 to 1,434 in 2023.

Since November 2022, other product categories are also affected by relevant regulation, being vacuum cleaners (wired, batteries), front-loading washing machines, dishwashers, and high-pressure washers.

The data also shows repairability scoring by product. The highest and lowest scorings by product category were (as of November 2023): Vacuum cleaners (5.3 to 9.8); laptops (3.5 to 9.8); smartphones (1 to 9.6); electric lawn mowers (4.9 to 9.7); high pressures washers (7.6 to 9.3); front-loading washing machines (5.6 to 8.7); and televisions (3.2 to 8.5).

Monitoring of repair activity will benefit from official data series on both the number and the scoring of products, as well as expanding labelling obligations to other product categories.

France has announced plans to replace the repairability index with a “Durability Index” which will reflect not only how repairable products are but will also address lifecycle aspects of the products such as reliability and upgrading possibilities. France plans to implement this January 1^st, 2024 for smartphones, washing machines and televisions.

Repairing damaged products instead of discarding them (and buying new ones) is one of the key R-strategies (i.e. inner parts of the circular economy), as it could lead to substantial savings of material resources. The Circular Economy Action Plan commits to revise EU policies to ensure consumers receive trustworthy and relevant information on purchased products (e.g., lifespan and availability of repair services, spare parts, and repair manuals).

The French repairability index aims to better inform consumers about the potential repairability of products, with the aim of increasing repair, thus, reducing waste. The index is based on a scoring that considers five repairability criteria (documentation; disassembly; availability of spare parts; price of spare parts; and product-specific aspects). It is established by the 2020 French law on the fight against waste and for the circular economy and the score is displayed in shops beside the product. These data can inform consumers about how many products are scored by this index and how well they score.

Definition

The French Repairability Index scores the potential reparability of electric and electronic products according to five repairability criteria (see Methodology). It was established by the 2020 French law on the fight against waste and for the circular economy. The repairability index is designed to be a mandatory label to be displayed on products at the point of sale. Data displayed here refers to the number of products that have been scored according to the index, for seven product categories.

Methodology

A score is given by the appliance manufacturer on each of the criteria according to the scoring grids defined by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. The final repairability index score is an average of the criteria represented by a score ranging from 0 to 10. The five repairability criteria are: 1) availability of technical documentation; 2) ease of disassembly of the product, the type of tools required and the characteristics of the fasteners; 3) availability of spare parts; 4) price of spare parts; and 5) other criteria specific to the product category concerned. See https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/indice-reparabilite.

Metadata

Source: https://www.indicereparabilite.fr (accessed January 2022 and November 2023) hosted by Spareka

Unit: Number of products.

Temporal coverage: data extracted in January 2022 and November 2023

Geographic coverage: France.

References and footnotes

https://www.indicereparabilite.fr/
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To consult products and their scores, the French ministry of ecological & energy transition and territorial cohesion refers to 3 online platforms (https://www.ecologie.gouv.fr/indice-reparabilite) hosted by: -Spareka (used here), - Agora (https://monindicedereparabilite.fr/home) and - Les Numériques (https://www.lesnumeriques.com/telephone-portable/comparatif-smartphones-telephones-portables-a407.html).
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