Today we would like to talk about our main activity: Repair & Refurbishment. We’ve already released a post about the implementation of a circular business model and now we are going to deep dive into one of the biggest advantages of our offered service. We’ll explore how choosing repair over disposal can lead to substantial energy savings and contribute to a more sustainable future.
It’s easy to fall into the habit of disposing of broken or outdated items and replacing them with new ones. However, this throwaway culture comes with significant environmental and energy costs. Repairing items instead of discarding them not only saves money but also conserves energy and reduces waste.
Understanding the Energy Cost of Manufacturing
Before diving into the benefits of repair, it’s important to understand the energy involved in manufacturing new products. The production of consumer goods requires a significant amount of energy. This energy is used throughout various stages, including:
- Raw material extraction: Mining, logging, and other forms of resource extraction are energy-intensive processes. For example, mining metals for electronics or extracting oil for plastic production requires vast amounts of energy, often from non-renewable sources.
- Manufacturing: Transforming raw materials into finished products involves numerous energy-consuming processes like smelting, molding, assembly, and transportation of materials to factories.
- Transportation: Once manufactured, products must be transported to retailers or directly to consumers, often across long distances, further increasing the energy footprint.
Each of these stages contributes to the overall carbon footprint of a product. When an item is thrown away, the energy invested in its creation is lost, and the energy cycle starts again with the production of a replacement. Repairing products disrupts this cycle, reducing the need for new resources and the energy associated with manufacturing.
How Repairing Saves Energy
1. Extending Product Lifespan
The most straightforward way repair saves energy is by extending the lifespan of products. By fixing a item, you avoid the need for a replacement, which in turn reduces the demand for new products and the energy required to produce them. For example, repairing a broken smartphone instead of buying a new one can save the energy equivalent of charging that phone daily for several years.
Extending the life of products through repair also delays their entry into the waste stream, where disposal processes like recycling consume additional energy.
2. Reducing Raw Material Extraction
Repairing products minimizes the need for raw material extraction, one of the most energy-intensive stages of manufacturing. For instance, recycling metals and minerals often requires substantial energy, but repairing an existing product eliminates the need for new materials altogether. Especially when certain components needed for the repair are being reused. This reduction in resource extraction directly translates into energy savings and lower environmental impact.
3. Energy Savings in Manufacturing
Manufacturing processes are energy-hungry, particularly in industries like electronics. Repairing a product means fewer items need to be manufactured, leading to a decrease in the energy consumption of factories. Moreover, many repairs—such as fixing electronics—require relatively little energy compared to producing new items.
4. Reducing Transportation Energy
When products are repaired locally, the energy spent on transporting new goods from factories to manufacturing sites and then to end-consumers is saved. This is particularly significant in a global economy where products often travel thousands of miles from production sites to consumers. Repair services, often local, contribute to energy savings by reducing the need for long-distance transportation of goods.
5. Lowering Energy Demand for Waste Management
Disposing of products involves energy-intensive processes, including collection, transportation, and processing of waste. Even recycling, while better than landfilling, requires energy to break down materials and transform them into reusable forms. Repairing items eliminates or delays these processes, contributing to further energy conservation.
The Financial and Environmental Benefits of Repair
Opting for repair over disposal is not just about saving energy; it also comes with significant financial and environmental benefits:
Repairing an item is often cheaper than purchasing a new one. Whether it’s fixing a broken part or replacing some components the repair can save consumers money and reduce the demand for new products.
By repairing instead of disposing, the amount of waste is reduced. This is particularly important for electronic waste (e-waste), which is one of the fastest-growing waste streams globally and contains toxic materials that can harm the environment.
Repair contributes to a circular economy, where products are designed to be reused, repaired, and recycled rather than disposed of after a single use. This model reduces the overall environmental impact of consumer goods and encourages sustainable consumption practices.
Fostering a Repair Culture
Shifting from a disposable culture to a repair culture requires changes at both individual and systemic levels. Legally, there was already one big decision taken. You can read our blog post about the “right to repair” to find out more about this topic!
Conclusion
Choosing to repair rather than dispose of products is a powerful way to save energy, reduce waste, and contribute to a more sustainable future. The energy savings achieved by repairing extend across the entire lifecycle of a product, from raw material extraction to manufacturing, transportation, and waste management. Beyond the environmental benefits, repair also offers financial savings..
By fostering a repair culture and advocating for systemic changes, we can reduce our energy consumption and environmental impact, paving the way for a more efficient and sustainable world. Look at your products and consider the energy, resources, and money you could save by repairing it instead of throwing it away. Contact us for more information.
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