Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZMThe Repair Bonus launched in 2021 by the Department for the Environment, Energy, and Nature of the State of Thuringia in cooperation with the Thuringian Consumer Protection Agency (VZTH) is a first for Germany by introducing a meaningful commercial incentive for product repairs. Accompanying the launch of the incentive, research was undertaken to quantify the ecological and economic impacts of the scheme, applying a range of calculatory and survey methods to estimate its effects on reducing carbon emissions and avoiding electronic waste.
The study in a nutshell:
- A survey of active repairability incentive systems in Europe
- A review of methods for calculating the environmental impacts avoided by extending the working lives of products
- A proposal of a simplified method for estimating the environmental impacts avoided by repairs
- An impact assessment for the Thuringian Repair Bonus scheme for the funding period 2021 to 2023
- A representative study of consumers concerning their product repair habits and perception of the repair bonus
