Immediate reductions on the bill of French people who take the initiative to have them repaired their electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) rather than throwing them away. This is the whole principle of the repair fund, the flagship measure of thethe Anti-waste law for a circular economy (Agec) February 2021. Objective: to tackle one of the main obstacles to repair (if not the first): its cost. Consumers waive the repair when it costs more than 30% of the price of newevaluates Ademe in its studies on the French and repair. If this repair fund was long overdue – it entered into force on December 15, almost a year late… – it has since made people happy.
21,000 repairs covered in four months
Nathalie Yserd, CEO ofecosystem, one of the two eco-organizations in charge of its management, counts “21,0000 repairs to have already benefited from a bonus, for a total amount of half a million euros”. From the washing machine to the mower, via the smartphone, the camera or the vacuum cleaner… In total, 31 families of products are covered by this fund, financed by the companies which produce and market these appliances. If the consumer has no steps to take, there are still two conditions to take advantage of this bonus: that the broken down equipment is no longer under warranty and that the repairer is certified QualiRepar. “The discounts can range from 10 to 45 euros depending on the type of product, continues Nathalie Yserd. But the average is, for the moment, 24 euros. »
Another lesson from these first four months: the dishwasher, the washing machine and the smartphone are the equipment to have benefited the most from the bonus to date. “60% of the 21,000 repairs between them”, points out Ecosystem. The dryer, the vacuum cleaner, the oven, the refrigerator follow… But the classification could be shaken up with the rise in power of the device. Ecosystem is aiming for at least 500,000 repairs covered by the end of 2023. An objective that seems tenable since 10 million repairs are carried out each year out of warranty.
3,000 certified repairers by the end of the year
But the number of devices to break down is not everything. The other crucial issue is the number of repairers with the “QualiRépar” label. The fund started with 400 reference sites, “far too few”, lamented some NGOs such as Zero Waste. Since then, “the QualiRépar network has almost tripled, welcomes Nathalie Yserd. More than 1,200 sites are now certified. In total, this brings together 4,500 technicians, about half of whom travel to homes. “All metropolitan departments are covered by at least one certified technician, ensures Ecosystem. “And we also have our first certified repairers in Martinique and Réunion,” adds its general manager.
In addition, 1,764 other sites are in the process of being certified. “By the end of the year, we will thus reach 3,000 sites comprising 8,500 technicians”, promises Nathalie Yserd. It remains little compared to the 30,000 repairers in France in this area of EEE.
Too little advertising on this bonus?
“Above all, the challenge is that the label is not “trusted” by the large repair chains”, insists Laetitia Vasseur, co-founder of Stop planned obsolescence (HOP), one of the associations to have pushed for the establishment of the repair fund. “It’s so much the better if they get involved,” she continues. But the interest of this device is that it participates in revitalizing the local economy and that it guarantees everyone access to repair. »
This presupposes having in this “QualiRepar” network small village or neighborhood repairers. “However, it is for the latter that the labeling procedure is the heaviest, if only in terms of the time spent completing the administrative procedures”, regrets Laëtitia Vaseur. At Ecosystem, we claim to have set up a team dedicated to supporting them in the labeling process. However, they are still underrepresented. Of the 1,200 labeled sites, 22% are those of artisan repairers. We should go to a third by the end of the year.
“The concern is that neither the State, nor Ademe, nor the eco-organizations communicate on the existence of this repair fund, deplores Laëtitia Vasseur. We are told that it is to avoid an influx of repairs which the too small number of repairers could not cope with. “For the co-founder of Hop, it’s a bit of a snake biting its own tail: “Very few French people know to date that this repair fund exists, which reduces the interest of repairers in obtaining the label. »