Repairability and economic lifespan

[Biospace]

"Mending a smartphone just once can save more than 77kg of carbon emissions, research by the French ecological transition agency Ademe has found."

https://www.theguardian.com/business/ar ... urrys-boss

A very fair point, why should refurbished electricals have VAT charged a second time?

[Biospace]

Here's some positive news, a student's invention of an electric kettle anyone can fix. Separating the heater and switch from the rest of the kettle makes a lot of sense, it would be even better if the water sat in a stainless steel rather than plastic jug.

In a similar vein, does anyone see evidence of the "right to repair" having any positive effect on design? I see the founder fo the Green Grads programme is quoted by The Guardian as calling it “manifestly inadequate”.

https://www.greengrads.co.uk/
https://www.jamesdysonaward.org/2024/project/osiris

[drossall]

A very fair point, why should refurbished electricals have VAT charged a second time?

The concept is to charge VAT on the value added by the seller, i.e. the difference between the price paid to obtain the goods (or materials) and relevant labour, and the sale price. So no VAT has previously been charged on the difference between the purchase price of a used item and its value when reconditioned.

But of course the government can choose not to charge VAT in order to promote things. In which case, we'll all have to pay it on something else, in order to fill the hole in the budget.

[Biospace]

The concept is to charge VAT on the value added by the seller, i.e. the difference between the price paid to obtain the goods (or materials) and relevant labour, and the sale price. So no VAT has previously been charged on the difference between the purchase price of a used item and its value when reconditioned.

But of course the government can choose not to charge VAT in order to promote things. In which case, we'll all have to pay it on something else, in order to fill the hole in the budget.

Yes, I appreciate the concept of how this is applied.

Typically, broken goods will be bought for very little even if very little physically is needed to restore full operation, so it is often the case that VAT will be charged on the majority of the price the restored/refurbished goods are then sold for.

This contrasts hugely with the £billions handed away to those buying and using battery powered cars.

https://unitar.org/about/news-stories/p ... -recycling