Thread by @10yearguarantee

Why introducing a legal minimum product guarantee of 10 years is good for the environment, good for consumers, and good for workers: a thread.

Research indicates that most consumers assert their rights by returning a broken product to the manufacturer for repair within the warranty period. Once this guarantee ends, it is often cheaper and easier to buy new.

Introducing a legal minimum product guarantee period of 10 years would improve the quality of products sold, increase the amount of products which are repaired, and subsequently reduce the consumption of natural resources and energy required for production.

Why is this important? ‘Planned obsolescence’ is a deceitful trick used by manufacturers to generate long-term sales by designing products with an artificially limited useful life, so that it becomes obsolete after a certain period of time.

By legally requiring that manufacturers in certain industries must repair/replace broken products within 10 years of purchase, pursuing a ‘planned obsolescence’ product design strategy would no longer be financially viable.

The most appropriate products to place a minimum guarantee period on would therefore be in industries which pursue ‘planned obsolescence’ manufacturing strategies, such as household appliances and consumer electronics…

…but there is no reason why this cannot also be extended to other consumer goods as well (i.e. clothing).

Extending the guarantee period of products has the potential to usher in a completely new economic model, whereby it is more convenient for consumers if certain products are publicly owned, and in which the sale of a product would be replaced by the sale of its use.

…it may also be viable therefore for production of certain goods to be publicly owned, ensuring that workers receive a greater share of their surplus value.

There is of course an argument that the existing production model keeps employment levels high and that lower consumption would threaten jobs, but extending the product guarantee would require more attention be placed on product design and repair work…

…both of which would create new jobs, so long as central governments are engaged in promoting retraining for work in these fields.

…it is also worth noting that not only are jobs such as product design and repair work arguably more engaging than manufacturing roles, they are also less susceptible to being replaced by automation.

In summary, a legal minimum product guarantee of 10 years would:
✅Reduce the consumption of energy and natural resources
✅Improve product quality
✅Encourage public ownership of consumer goods
✅Create more jobs which are less susceptible to automation