November 16, 2022
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Since Mars 2022, alongside companies like Spareka, Murfy, BackMarket or Le Bon Coin, Pimster is committed to the fight against programmed obsolescence by joining the network of the Club de la Durabilité.
Nowadays, the manufacture of products is responsible for large amounts of CO2 emissions: the European Environmental Bureau (EBB) showed in 2019 that “extending the life of all washing machines, laptops, vacuum cleaners and smartphones in the EU by just one year would save around 4 million tones of carbon dioxide (CO2) [emissions] per year by 2030, the equivalent of taking more than 2 million cars off the road for one year.”
The heavy climatic impact of our daily products is largely due to the extraction of resources and the manufacturing process.
Through our tool Pimster, we want to give back the keys to consumers to use, maintain, repair and recondition their products in a simple and intuitive way.
Since January 1, 2021, the reparability index has been deployed on 5 categories of household appliances and electronic devices, and on 4 new ones since May 4, 2022. Its goal is twofold: to better advice consumers and to change manufacturers’ practices, in order to ultimately fight against the premature obsolescence of our objects. This tool, provided by the anti-waste law for a circular economy, allows consumers to be informed about the more or less repairable nature of their purchases.
A score out of 10 is displayed to inform consumers if their product is easily repairable. Initially, the index covers smartphones, electric lawnmowers, washing machines with windows, laptops and televisions.
77% of European citizens would rather repair their appliances than change them
With the entry into force of the reparability index in France in January 2021, the brands involved are forced to provide a score out of 10 with 5 evaluation criteria including: documentation (transparency), disassembly (access, tools, fixings) and availability of spare parts.
This index will evolve in 2024 into a European-wide sustainability index, supported by ADEME.
But what is the point of imposing a product rating on brands? Because it is also very important to make them aware of repair.
Repair has a triple advantage:
Following the example of brands like FairPhone in multimedia or Patagonia in textile, repair is no longer an option but a necessity for everyone.Brands must therefore promote product repair, whether it is self-repair or repair by professionals.
At Pimster, we are convinced that it is up to the brands to gain in transparency on the subject and the story allows to support and reassure the consumer step by step in his approach. The main objective is to democratize this process: repair instead of throwing away.
It is also crucial to anticipate the repair by a good use of the products as soon as they are unpacked and during all the whole life cycle of the product. Regular maintenance of the product by its owner is part of it, and for that a system of push-notifications is set-up, allowing to warn him or her at the right moment of the life cycle.
Regarding Apple, their announcement on the implementation of the Self Service Repair program with a privileged access to tools and spare parts has a real positive impact with its customers.
https://www.apple.com/fr/newsroom/2021/11/apple-announces-self-service-repair/
We all have experienced the frustration of never finding the right part number for our product or the right compatible accessory.
Thanks to the Pimster interface, we want to facilitate the access to these spare parts by proposing them directly in the video tutorials. Via a simple button in the stories but also directly in the interface with a dedicated section.
Historical companies like Spareka or SOS Accessoires have been pioneers on the theme of referencing and accessibility of spare parts. The development of diagnostics via chatbot or a video service to enable consumers to be autonomous in their repairs.
The user has access to the interface via QR code on the product which allows him or her to make sure that all the content offered as well as the complementary products and spare parts will be compatible with his or her product.
Our arrival in this pioneering club is an opportunity for us to federate and integrate ourselves into this very rich and promising ecosystem for product sustainability. It also offers us the unique opportunity to give power back to end-users and brands with a common environmental and social objective.
The Club de la Durabilité, created in 2018 and led by the association Halte à l’Obsolescence Programmée, is a network of companies that now federates more than 30 actors committed to extending the life of products. To accelerate the transition towards a sustainable and circular economy, the Club unfolds several services focused on the expertise and skills development, synergy and communication on positive business alternatives.
The Club's network is aimed at young committed structures so that they can become part of the sustainability ecosystem and participate in several activities alongside Club members: exchanges, events, sharing of best practices, etc.
Pimster is very happy to join the Club's network to support brands in this new dimension of customer experience.
Pimster x Le Club de la Durabilité
We are happy to announce our new membership to the Club de la Durabilité network, alongside actors like Spareka, Murfy, BackMarket or Le Bon Coin, with the common goal of extending the life of products.
Through our Pimster tool, we want to give consumers the keys to use, maintain, repair and recondition their products in a simple and intuitive way.
We are convinced that it is up to brands to gain transparency on this subject and the story allows us to accompany and reassure consumers step by step in their approach. The main objective is to democratize this process: not to throw away but to repair.