With a score out of 10, the repairability index is an easily understandable score that allows the consumer to know if the device purchased will be easily repairable over time. Calculated and displayed by the brands without external verification, this index would be overvalued according to HOP.
Aware of our role to play in an increasingly circular economy, we are regularly interested in the repairability index set up in France in January 2021. This score allows consumers to quickly identify whether a device will be easily repairable in the weather. The score out of 10 is awarded by the manufacturer, who must follow an evaluation grid drawn up by various players at national level (Ministry of Ecological Transition, manufacturers, associations, etc.). For the moment, five categories of products are concerned (smartphones, computers, televisions, washing machines and electric lawn mowers) and the evaluation grid takes into account five main criteria:
- the duration of the availability of the technical documentation;
- ease of disassembly and access to parts;
- the duration of availability of spare parts and their delivery time;
- the price of spare parts compared to the price of new equipment;
- a fifth criterion specific to each product category.
This repairability index is currently based on the declarative principle and it is the manufacturers themselves who evaluate and rate their products. There is therefore no independent control of the scores displayed.
If in 2021 no sanctions were taken against fraudulent ratings, the General Directorate for Competition and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) can, since 2022, check the calculation of the index, even on data which are not made public and impose fines. As Stéphane Hocquet, Deputy Director of the Business Sub-Directorate at the Ministry of Ecological Transition, told us in February 2021, “consumers and their associations have the arsenal of recourse against misleading commercial claims“.
First checks and erroneous calculations
The HOP (Halte à l’obsolescence programme) association recently conducted a study with the help of repair experts to verify the repairability indexes of six products (3 smartphones, 2 laptops and 1 television). According to their calculations, three products would have a repairability score 15% higher than those determined by their experts and in the end five devices would have a score higher than the association’s calculations. An overvaluation due in particular to the rating concerning the availability of spare parts. HOP undertakes to send the results of the study to the DGCCR so that an investigation can be carried out.
This study also allows the association to point out the lack of clarity of certain criteria of the calculation grid. Ambiguities that would allow manufacturers to overstate their devices. HOP also insists on the need to review the different weightings of the rating system. Indeed, a poor mark on the dismantling of a device or the availability of spare parts meaning that a device is difficult to repair can be offset by an excellent mark on another criterion such as the availability of documentation.
If HOP calls for a revision of the repairability index to make it more ambitious, the association also recalls the relevance of the index to fight against the throwaway culture.
Let us also remember that Digital worked with the agency Auxilia and HOP to set up a sustainability score for smartphones. This score, which uses the repairability index in its calculations, is supplemented by other criteria such as the duration of the warranty, software support, but also the presence of an audio jack and takes into account the distinctions awarded by TCO or EPEAT, two environmental labels with an international scope. In addition, we take into account the evaluation of manufacturers’ CSR policies.