49 environmental organizations sign letter in support of Right to Repair
Non-profits and advocacy groups dedicated to protecting our ocean, reducing waste and fighting climate change have signed on to support Senator Eggman's SB 244, the Right to Repair Act
If consumers can fix their products and keep them in use for longer, we can reduce toxic electronic waste. That’s why many environmentally-focused organizations support SB 244, the Right to Repair Act. You can read their letter below:
Dear Chair Portantino,
On behalf of the undersigned organizations, we write in strong support of SB 244 (Senator Eggman), which provides Californians the resources they need to fix electronics and appliances, keeping electronic waste off the scrap heap.
Owners of electronics and independent repair shops too often don’t have access to repair guides or the tools and parts that are essential to extending the life of consumer electronics. When only the manufacturer or their “authorized technician” can fix something, they can charge whatever they want or they can say “it can’t be fixed.” This pushes consumers into buying new devices, leading to more waste.
Electronic waste (e-waste) is the fastest growing waste stream on the planet—up 21% from 2015–2020—and our ability to process waste is not keeping up. It is estimated that Californians throw away 46,900 cell phones every day and discard 1.1 million tons of toxic electronic waste each year. E-waste accounts for 70% of heavy metals in our waste stream, including lead, mercury, and cadmium. When these metals leach into groundwater, they can accumulate in fish and other aquatic life, with devastating effects on human health, from kidney disease to diabetes to cancer.
Recycling e-waste is certainly better for the environment, but electronics recycling is rare and incomplete. Of the 50 million tons of e-waste produced annually, less than 20% is recycled. Even when e-waste makes it to a formal recycling facility, much of it can’t be recovered. Smelters are only able to recover about one sixth of the metals inside. Those metals aren’t fully recovered, either—recovery rates for cobalt are about 30%. Nearly 20% of e-waste is made up of plastic, and little of that can be recycled.
Our best chance at reducing the damaging effects of electronics manufacturing on the environment is to keep our stuff around longer, slowing consumption. Electronics manufacturing creates a huge amount of waste, far more than consumers throw out. The production of devices like smartphones is so energy intensive that if we held onto phones one more year on average, the national emissions reductions would be equivalent to taking 636,000 cars off the road.
Appliances face many of the same issues. Producing a household appliances may require up to 100 times its weight in resources to produce, and mining and processing those resources “account for between 25% and 50% of all greenhouse gasses emitted during the life cycle of a household appliance,” according to a 2022 investigation into the consequences of appliance manufacturing by Canadian environmental research group Équiterre. Extending the lifespan of a washing machine by six years reduces its overall environmental impact by 46%.
Many discarded devices could be used again, but simple repairs are impossible without the proper tools and information.
SB 244 will slow the creation of waste by giving consumers and independent repair shops access to the tools, parts, service information they need to keep more products in use and out of the trash. With more repair, more electronic materials will remain in use instead of filling up landfills; be more useful for recyclers; and reduce the burden of mining for new source material, manufacturing, and transportation of new devices.
SB 244 will also save consumers money by bringing more competition and choice to the repair marketplace, and creating greater availability of affordable used devices. Many people can’t afford the latest gadgets, but if we extended the life of tablets, laptops and other electronics, it would allow more consumers more access to these important technologies. Research from CALPIRG finds that repair can save California households about $4.3 billion per year.
Finally, SB 244 will provide more opportunities for small businesses. Repair work is typically done by small local businesses, and more repair means more opportunities for those businesses to grow or new businesses to start.
Improved access to repair is good for the environment, good for consumers, and good for small businesses.
We strongly urge you to vote AYE on SB 244.
Sincerely,
Nick Lapis
Director of Advocacy
Californians Against Waste
Jenn Engstrom
State Director
CALPIRG (California Public Interest Research Group)
Melissa Romero
Senior Legislative Manager
California Environmental Voters
Jordan Wells
Director of Advocacy and Communications
National Stewardship Action Council
Doug Kobold
Executive Director
California Product Stewardship Council
Bill Allayaud
California Director of Government Affairs
Environmental Working Group
Andria Ventura
Legislative and Policy Director
Clean Water Action
Laura Deehan
State Director
Environment California
Darby Hoover
Senior Resource Specialist
NRDC
Sakereh Carter
Senior Policy Advocate
Sierra Club CA
Jessica Robinson
President
Northern California Recycling Association
Felipe Melchor
General Manager
ReGen Monterey
Vita Wells
Founder
The Culture of Repair Project
John Davis
Administrator
Mojave Desert and Mountain Recycling Authority
Alex Choy
Campaign Organizer
The Story of Stuff Project
Miho Ligare
Plastic Pollution Policy Manager
Surfrider Foundation
Nicole Tai
Chair
Reuse Alliance
Christienne de Tournay Birkhahn
Commissioner/Chair
City of Berkeley Zero Waste Commission
Patrick Mathews
General Manager/CAO
Salinas Valley Recycles
Ashleigh Dawson
President
Recycle2riches
Alejandra Warren
Executive Director
Plastic Free Future
Erica Donnelly-Greenan
Executive Director
Save Our Shores
Dianna Cohen
Co-Founder and CEO
Plastic Pollution Coalition
Jackie Nuñez
Founder
The Last Plastic Straw
Christopher Chin
Executive Director
The Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research, and Education (COARE)
Alison Waliszewski
Policy Director
The 5 Gyres Institute
Leslie Mintz Tamminen
Director
Seventh Generation Advisors
Emily Parker
Coastal and Marine Scientist
Heal the Bay
Mati Waiya
Executive Director
Wishtoyo Chumash Foundation
Julie Anderson
Global Executive Director
Plastic Ocean International
Ruth Abbe
President
Zero Waste USA
Torri J Estrada
Carbon Cycle Institute
Executive Director
Peter Mui
Founder
Fixit Clinic
Maia Coladonato
President
Repair Cafe Palo Alto/Mountain View
Lisette van Vliet
Senior Policy Manager
Breast Cancer Prevention Partners
LeVonne Stone
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Fort Ord Environmental Justice Network
Charlie Moore
Founder
Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research
Jim Lindburg
Legislative Consultant
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Stephanie Regni
Zero waste store owner
Fillgood
Cheryl Auger
President
BAN SUP (Single-Use Plastics)
Kristie Sepulveda-Burchit
Executive Director
Educate. Advocate.
Pauline M Seales
Organizer
Santa Cruz Climate Action Network
Janet Cox
CEO
Climate Action California
David Diaz
Executive Director
Active San Gabriel Valley
Oluwatosin Folorunso
Sustainability Coordinator
Associated Students, California State University Northridge Inc.
Alan Weiner
Chapter Lead
350 Conejo / San Fernando Valley
Lynda Marin
Chapter Lead
Citizens’ Climate Santa Cruz
Andy Hattala
Vice Chair
The Climate Reality Project: Los Angeles Chapter
Victoria Charles
Professor
Santa Monica Community College
Kathryn Hyde
Consultant
Hyde Consulting
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