UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Changing the throw away culture, BBC News

kellys_eye · 9th Jan 2019, 11:31 pm

I don't suppose there's anything really wrong with limited lifetime items - provided the old device can be recycled to a large extent. There'd be little use for innovation and a decline in manufacturing productivity if everything worked 'forever'.

The biggest issue is, and always has been, the LABOUR charges to get items repaired. Now that I'm semi-retired (still self employed though) I offer our local community a one off (no fix, no fee) repair charge of £25 plus parts (at cost) regardless of the time it takes to fix the item.

I've repaired many TV sets (usual dry capacitor and dud LED backlight issues) and even a 3500W inverter (4p part!) for the £25 fee. To be fair, around 30% of the stuff that come to me is genuinely BER but the clients usually donate them for spares if this is the case.

I realise this wouldn't ever work on a mass-consumer basis or for anyone seeking to make a living but it keeps me occupied, happy and feeling good about helping locals.

Maybe if recycling these items took the form of chipping, dicing and grinding them into the smallest parts they could be 90%+ separated for materials and thus better re-used?

9th Jan 2019, 11:31 pm	#26
kellys_eye Octode Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Oban, Scotland, UK. Posts: 1,129	Re: Changing the throw away culture BBC News today. I don't suppose there's anything really wrong with limited lifetime items - provided the old device can be recycled to a large extent. There'd be little use for innovation and a decline in manufacturing productivity if everything worked 'forever'. The biggest issue is, and always has been, the LABOUR charges to get items repaired. Now that I'm semi-retired (still self employed though) I offer our local community a one off (no fix, no fee) repair charge of £25 plus parts (at cost) regardless of the time it takes to fix the item. I've repaired many TV sets (usual dry capacitor and dud LED backlight issues) and even a 3500W inverter (4p part!) for the £25 fee. To be fair, around 30% of the stuff that come to me is genuinely BER but the clients usually donate them for spares if this is the case. I realise this wouldn't ever work on a mass-consumer basis or for anyone seeking to make a living but it keeps me occupied, happy and feeling good about helping locals. Maybe if recycling these items took the form of chipping, dicing and grinding them into the smallest parts they could be 90%+ separated for materials and thus better re-used?