Sustainability & Impact

The Circular Economy Is Coming to Tech

Right to repair laws now cover over 500 million people globally. Canada enacted national legislation in November 2024. The

By Conor Healy

April 1, 2026

Right to repair laws now cover over 500 million people globally. Canada enacted national legislation in November 2024. The EU Right to Repair Directive takes effect across 27 member states July 31, 2026. Five US states have active laws covering 25.75% of Americans. Australia mandates automotive repair access with $10 million fines for violations. India launched a consumer portal. France requires repairability scores displayed at point of sale.

Tech companies responded with hostile compliance. They follow the letter of regulations while sabotaging the spirit. US PIRG graded 10 out of 25 products with D or F ratings in 2025. Sony, Canon, Nikon, and Apple all failed by making parts impossible to find, burying manuals behind authentication walls, or pricing repairs at 80% of replacement cost.

Right to repair is forcing the entire tech industry toward circular economy models whether manufacturers cooperate or not. Back Market hit €3 billion in refurbished electronics sales for 2025. Framework sold hundreds of thousands of modular laptops. Apple’s Daisy robot recovered $40 million in materials from recycled iPhones. The linear model of mine-make-dispose is dying because governments banned it and markets found profit in the alternative.

Companies Follow Laws While Breaking Them

Hostile compliance means technically obeying regulations while making compliance meaningless. Sony told customers seeking camera repair manuals that “Repair Manuals are only provided to Sony Accredited Centers and Certified Technicians.” When US PIRG researchers asked for documentation required by law, Sony representatives suggested searching iFixit or YouTube instead.

Canon requires proof of purchase and serial numbers before providing any repair information. Without receipts, customers can’t access parts or documentation even though laws mandate availability. This administrative barrier defeats the purpose while maintaining technical compliance.

Nikon wrote it “makes available certain information, repair parts and tool available for self-repair of certain products as we believe appropriate.” Nikon decides what’s appropriate, not the law. The company only offered repair materials for two products when questioned.

Apple customer service told PIRG that “only trained Apple Technicians” could replace phone screens or batteries despite Apple’s website offering full repair manuals and parts for iPhone 15. Customer service teams weren’t informed about compliance programs, creating intentional confusion discouraging self-repair.

Parts pricing demonstrates the clearest hostile compliance. Companies provide parts as required but charge prices making repair economically irrational. A Samsung Galaxy S23 screen replacement kit from Samsung costs $259. A new S23 costs $799. Why pay $259 to fix when $540 more gets you new? An iPhone screen replacement through Apple costs $279. Independent shops using harvested parts charge $120.

LG, Motorola, and Sony PlayStation all received failing grades. These companies either refuse to provide documentation, make parts unavailable, or price repairs to ensure customers buy new instead.

Laws Now Span Five Continents

Canada became the first country with national right to repair law when Bill C-244 received royal assent November 7, 2024. The law amends copyright restrictions allowing consumers to bypass software locks for repairs. Quebec went further, banning planned obsolescence entirely through Bill 29 in 2023.

The EU Right to Repair Directive adopted June 2024 becomes law across all 27 member states July 31, 2026. Manufacturers must repair instead of replace in certain cases. The directive initially applies to smartphones, tablets, washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, fridges, TVs, and servers. Any repair within warranty extends that warranty by 12 months. The EU will establish a European online repair platform operational in 2027.

The EU directive obligates manufacturers to repair products purchased before July 31, 2026. This retroactive application creates massive compliance burdens. Manufacturers must stock parts and maintain repair capabilities for products sold years ago.

France pioneered repairability scoring in 2020. A score from 0 to 10 must be displayed at point of sale for smartphones, laptops, televisions, and washing machines. Manufacturers responded by improving scores to remain competitive. The scoring system created a race to the top. Berlin allocated $1.25 million in 2026 to reimburse citizens up to $237 for professional repairs.

In the United States, five states enacted laws: New York, California, Minnesota, Oregon, and Colorado. Wisconsin introduced legislation January 2026, making it the 50th state with a bill under consideration. Colorado’s law is the toughest, explicitly banning parts pairing. Parts pairing is when manufacturers use software to identify components through unique identifiers, then disable functionality if unapproved replacement parts are detected.

California fines escalate from $1,000 per violation daily for first offenses to $5,000 for third strikes. A company systematically violating repair access for a product with 100,000 California owners faces $100 million in daily fines at first-offense rates.

Australia passed its first right to repair law in July 2021 for automotive. Car manufacturers must provide independent repair technicians all diagnostic data, manuals, service bulletins, wiring diagrams, and technical specifications. Failure carries a $10 million fine. Australia fined Honda $20,000 for breaches.

New Zealand’s parliament began considering a right to repair bill in April 2024. India’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs launched a right to repair consumer portal in 2023 covering farm equipment, mobile and electronic products. Brazil introduced its first right to repair bill in 2024 prohibiting planned obsolescence.

Hostile Compliance Created Secondary Markets

The economics of hostile compliance are simple. Tech companies price official repairs so high that secondary markets become profitable. An iPhone 14 Pro costs $999 new. Back Market sells refurbished units for $600 to $700. The refurbisher buys broken phones for $150, invests $100 in parts and labor, sells for $650, and makes $400 profit. Back Market captures $65 commission. The customer saves $300. Apple loses the $999 sale.

Component harvesting from broken electronics is a billion-dollar global industry. A cracked iPhone screen costs $279 to replace through Apple. The OEM screen costs a parts harvester $30 to extract from a dead phone. Sell that screen to an independent repair shop for $120. The harvester makes $90 profit. The repair shop undercuts Apple by $100. The customer saves money. Apple loses $279 service revenue.

Shenzhen markets trade harvested iPhone components like commodities. Prices fluctuate based on supply and demand. An iPhone 14 Pro camera module peaked at $140 in late 2024 when production constraints limited supply. By mid-2025, prices dropped to $85 as more broken phones entered the market.

One person can process 40 to 50 phones daily in Shenzhen, extracting cameras, batteries, screens, and chassis worth $2,000 to $3,000 in secondary markets. The economics work because phones contain $50 to $80 in recoverable materials and components. Labor costs in Shenzhen, Mumbai, or Accra are low enough that manual disassembly is profitable.

Back Market operates in 18 countries selling refurbished electronics from over 2,700 professional refurbishers. The company forecasts €3 billion in sales for 2025, up 30% year-over-year. Revenue exceeded $415 million in 2024. The marketplace became profitable in Europe in 2024 after years of losses.

The global refurbished electronics market hit $86.5 billion in 2023 and will reach $168.76 billion by 2029, growing at 11.61% annually. Hostile compliance made official repairs economically irrational, so the market went elsewhere.

Companies That Cooperate Win

Google received the 2024 Right to Repair Advocacy Award for supporting legislation in Oregon, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. Executives testified about parts pairing issues, explaining how the company keeps devices secure without inhibiting repair. Google launched its Certified Refurbished Pixel program in October 2024, offering 40% discounts.

Framework founded in 2020 to make completely modular laptops. The Framework Laptop 13 launched in 2021 where every component swaps out with one screwdriver: motherboard, RAM, storage, battery, screen, keyboard, trackpad, ports. No glue, no proprietary parts, no software locks. The company sold hundreds of thousands of units by 2025.

The business model works through customer lock-in via upgrades, not planned obsolescence. A customer who bought a Framework Laptop 13 with 11th gen Intel in 2021 can upgrade to 13th gen Intel by buying just the mainboard for $799. Framework captures the upgrade sale and maintains the customer relationship for 5 to 10 years instead of 3 to 4 year replacement cycles.

Framework’s Marketplace sells components individually. Broken hinge? $29. Cracked screen? $169. Battery degraded? $89. Dead trackpad? $49. Customers repair instead of replace, extending device lifespan from 4 years to 8+ years while Framework generates recurring revenue from parts sales.

Dell and ASUS earn solid B grades in PIRG’s repairability scorecards by making laptops easier to disassemble and opposing restrictions on independent repair less aggressively than competitors. Market differentiation through repairability is becoming viable as consumer awareness grows.

Fairphone sold 750,000 modular smartphones by 2025. The Fairphone 5 launched with 8 to 10 years of software support and spare parts availability through 2033. Every component is user-replaceable. The company partnered with recyclers to ensure end-of-life devices feed back into production.

Apple’s Self Service Repair program now covers 65 products. Samsung launched a self-repair program. Logitech partnered with iFixit to provide spare parts and repair guides. These companies recognized that fighting circular economy mandates creates regulatory risk and reputational damage.

Why Manufacturers Resist

Repair cannibalizes replacement sales. Apple sold 232 million iPhones in 2024. If the average lifespan extends from four years to five through easier repair, that’s 46 million fewer units sold annually. At $800 average selling price, that’s $37 billion in lost revenue.

US PIRG calculated that consumers could save $40 billion annually if they repaired instead of replaced products. That $40 billion in consumer savings is $40 billion in manufacturer revenue loss.

Repair also threatens profit margins on replacement parts sold through authorized service networks. An iPhone screen replacement through Apple costs $279. The part costs Apple perhaps $50 to manufacture. Authorized service captures the $229 margin. Independent repair at competitive pricing eliminates that margin.

The circular economy threatens the entire electronics industry business model built on planned obsolescence and regular replacement cycles. Companies designed products to be unrepairable intentionally, using glue instead of screws, proprietary parts instead of standard components, and software locks instead of open access.

Reversing 40 years of design philosophy to enable repair requires fundamental changes. Factory assembly lines optimized for speed and cost don’t accommodate repair-friendly design. Supply chains built around rapid replacement don’t support long-term parts availability.

Enforcement Is Just Beginning

No company has faced maximum penalties yet because enforcement is just beginning. New York’s law became the first to take effect in July 2024. Companies had six months to comply. Enforcement actions are starting in 2026 as violations become clear.

The problem is proving violations. A company that claims parts are “available” while pricing them prohibitively high creates ambiguity. Laws require availability on “fair and reasonable terms” but defining fair and reasonable is subjective. Companies exploit this through hostile compliance.

Colorado addressed this by banning specific practices like parts pairing. The 2026 legislative template from the Repair Association includes offline-capable repair tools, ensuring repairs aren’t blocked by connectivity barriers. It prohibits conditioning parts access on serial numbers or proof of ownership beyond standard purchase orders.

These specifics close hostile compliance loopholes. But companies keep finding new ones. The circular economy transition in tech is a regulatory cat-and-mouse game where each compliance workaround generates another legislative fix.

California’s attorney general has authority to investigate and bring actions for violations. The EU can fine companies up to 4% of global revenue for systematic violations. Australia’s $10 million automotive fine establishes precedent for severe penalties. Enforcement will intensify through 2026 and 2027 as regulators test their authority.

The Transition Is Accelerating

Right to repair coverage expanded from 0% to over 500 million people globally in under three years. By fall 2026, the EU Directive covers 450 million people. Canada’s 40 million residents have federal coverage. US state laws will cover 35.5% of Americans. Australia’s automotive law affects 26 million people.

EU requirements taking effect July 2026 force global manufacturers to support repair for European markets. Maintaining separate product lines and supply chains for repair-friendly EU versions versus US versions costs more than just making everything repairable. Regulatory arbitrage opportunities are closing.

Legislative specificity is increasing as hostile compliance tactics become clear. France’s repairability scoring created competitive pressure. Berlin’s repair subsidies show governments will fund the transition with taxpayer money. Colorado’s parts pairing ban closes specific loopholes.

The circular economy is not optional anymore. Tech companies can cooperate and capture business advantages from repair-friendly design, or they can practice hostile compliance and face escalating enforcement, legislation, and consumer backlash. By 2030, repairability will be standard across electronics sold globally. Companies still fighting it are just making the transition more expensive for themselves.