Policy Instruments for Extending the Life of Consumer Durables

Historically, environmental policy has focused on reducing the impacts of consumption in the energy and transport domains. With the emergence of the concept of ‘circular economy’, European Union (EU) states have begun focusing on prolonging product life by designing durable and repairable consumer goods such as furniture, white goods, IT products, and textiles. This Policy Brief presents five policy instruments for prolonging product lifetimes for wider adoption among G20: repair vouchers and repair funds; information on the service life and repairability of products; minimum product repairability requirements; ban on destroying unused goods; and criminalising planned obsolescence. The first three policies aim to promote product repair to extend product lifespan and decrease environmental impact by reducing purchases of new products. The remaining two policies intend to send normative signals to market players who deliberately destroy new products or reduce product lifespans through planned obsolescence. The G20 countries could explore the feasibility of developing similar policies to reduce the impacts of durable consumer goods.