Repair cafés, sustainable smartphones and product passports: Tackling Europe's throwaway culture

Europeans consume a lot. We buy many electronic devices, and when they break we often tend to replace them. However, consumers complain that the smartphones and devices that we buy are not made to last, leaving them with no alternative but to replace them.

But buying new goods instead of repairing them costs billions of euros every year. So how can we manufacture and consume differently, so that sustainable, repairable and recyclable products become the norm?

Amsterdam is a second-hand paradise. The Dutch city is also where the Repair café concept was created.

There are now thousands of Repair cafés around the world. The principle is simple: fixing electronic devices to prevent consumers from having to spend more and throwing away repairable goods - thereby creating e-waste. 

Former journalist Martine Postma created this concept in Amsterdam in 2009. "For me, it was a tryout, I wanted to check if something like this could work. And it did," she told Euronews.

"We've become accustomed to the fact that things are cheap and that getting a new one is in many cases cheaper than going to a professional repairer. We need to turn that around. Because there are not enough resources in the world for us to keep this behaviour up."

As part of a campaign to combat throw-away culture, a set of rules is about to come into force in Europe aiming to make repairs easier and cheaper, even after the warranty has expired.

In March 2023, the European Commission adopted a new proposal on common rules promoting the repair of goods known as the Right to Repair. 

The EU says this will result in savings for consumers and support the objectives of the European Green Deal by reducing waste, among others.

The proposal will ensure that more products are