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THE RIGHT-TO-REPAIR MOVEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN IMPLICATIONS: A FOCUS ON THREE INDUSTRIAL SECTORS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2023

Michael Saidani ,
Alicia Kim  and
Madeline Kim
Michael Saidani*
Affiliation:
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Alicia Kim
Affiliation:
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Madeline Kim
Affiliation:
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
*
Saidani, Michael, CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, France, michael.saidani@centralesupelec.fr

Abstract

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While products get more challenging to repair, the right-to-repair movement aims to empower consumers in their ability to “use, modify, and repair” a device “whenever, wherever, and however” they want. Here, the best design practices and remaining challenges of three industrial sectors – namely, consumer electronics, biomedical devices, and clothing industry – are investigated in light of the right-to-repair movement. Based on literature reviews and industrial surveys, a SWOT analysis is provided for each sector, and sustainable implications for product repair readiness are drawn. Concretely, recommendations to design, develop and sell products with right-to-repair in mind are given by sector. Future directions for a more quantitative assessment and implementation of design for product repair are discussed to ensure the augmentation of the circularity and sustainability performance of products.

Keywords

Design for X (DfX)SustainabilityCircular economyRight-to-repairProduct design
Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 3: ICED23 , July 2023 , pp. 3463 - 3472
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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