Microsoft to take active measures for 'Right to Repair', first among tech giants

Redmond-based Microsoft has agreed that it will take steps towards consumers' right to repair. A third-party organization will study the potential effect of the company making it easy to repair devices and make changes by the end of 2022. By doing so, the company has become the first major technology giant to take an initiative towards the ongoing concern. The decision comes after a shareholder advocacy group called As You Sow filed a resolution requesting the company to analyze and consider the social and environmental benefits of making Microsoft devices that are easy to repair. 

As mentioned in the official press release uploaded on As You Know's website, Kelly McBee, waste program coordinator at the organization says "Microsoft positions itself as a leader on climate and the environment, yet facilitates premature landfilling of its devices by restricting consumer access to device reparability." Adding to it, McBee also says that "To take genuine action on sustainability and ease pressure on the extraction of limited resources including precious metals, the company must extend the useful life of its devices by facilitating widespread access to repair."

What is right to repair?

In recent times, the right to repair movement has gained traction in the tech community. The movement talks about how companies manufacture their products in a way that makes it too difficult to get repaired, leaving the consumer with no other option than to buy a new one. While this makes it easier for the company as they can sell more devices, it creates a difficult situation for a consumer who might not be in a position to get a new device. Especially in the ongoing digital era where a majority of people are working from home, the need for digital devices is more than before. 

Right to repair and the environment - how are they connected? 

As You Sow states in the press release that reparability will facilitate the minimization of resources that are required to manufacture and create new products. Quoting research conducted by World Economic Forum, the organization highlights that electronics are the fastest growing waste stream in the world. Another research by the Green Peace organization states that about 70% of the emissions associated with personal computing devices are produced while manufacturing. Hence, increasing the lifespan of electronic devices by increasing the availability of resources necessary for repair.