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No really, for once I’m stuck a bit here for a title. I’ll get on with it at any rate…
Sometimes I wonder if it’s luck or what that seems to, every now and again, throw the poor repairers a bone.
We have government now actually promoting the idea of repairs and, in principle at least, supporting that endeavour which is just a bit of a change of heart. See the front page news for more.
They are actively supporting repairable products such as ISE. Not built to break but designed to be repairable so as the life is maximised which, let’s face it that as repairers, suits us just dandy whether it’s ISE or not.
We have an NVQ in the offing largely supported by the fact that it keeps machines running longer which, at last government seems to be getting finally and, is better than throwing junk into landfill or recycling. It saves producing or over-producing machines just to feed greedy big retailers.
The public, it seems, are actually starting to understand this.
Funnily enough…
We’ve been trying to tell people that for years now and, it seems, that finally, we may actually be starting to get somewhere. I say, “starting” a lot because that’s all it is, a start, not the end. This is a long haul.
And, whether you subscribe to the notion that saving excess waste, carbon emissions or whatever is good or not, people repairing more and making more considered purchases is a good thing from our perspective as repairers.
For this you can thank a lot of people that, behind the scenes, bang on and on about it and support this stance. They will largely remain unsung heroes and, for the sake f this post, I’m not going to name names but a lot of you will know who’s been at this hammer and tongs for all of us.
I truly hope that it makes us feel a little better and just that little bit more secure. But, in any event, at least we can feel good about what we do and that it has a value even if at times it doesn’t seem that way.
K.
Re: Can’t Think Of One!
“Put your money where your mouth is” would probably fit the title 😉 Government that is not you Ken 😉 🙂
If the government were serious about this, then it would be a start in the right direction. Excuse me for being a sceptic but do you know of any policy that this government has put into play that they have backed up with hard cash?
I feel the underlying reasons for the Government to now raise the issue about repair not replace is all down to the fact that we have signed up to the world agreements on waste and recycling.
To be honest everyone knows that we ain’t going to reach the targets on time.
For the government now to look into this culture that we have in Britain which has been developed mainly by the manufacturers, seems to me a bit to me like the “stable doors, horse bolted” syndrome.If they are serious then they need to seriously address all aspects of the industry not just the VAT. It’s not so much the VAT on repairs but the extortionate prices of spares dictated to us by foreign companies.
Re: Can’t Think Of One!
Looking at whats been suggested its hard to see how it would work in practice. Forgetting the idea of a Reduced percentage of VAT for a moment my belief is that the large majority of the people in the Houses of Parliment and the House of Lords have little idea of what to do or how to go about it. When it comes to having ideas to save the enviroment or indeed save us from ourselves MONEY is the driving force of their blinkered vision of how to make us do what they want. MONEY that we all have to find in the blind belief that it will stop us from doing various things.
Lord whats his name has suggested a label system that the public could use to see how enviromentally friendly a product may or may not be !
Remember the Food Standards Agency ? another goverment qango ! all that consists of is yet another bunch of wallers on high salaries who are meant to regulated and oversee a labelling system for the food industry, people are so busy these days looking at the high prices of food on the supermarket shelfs that FSA lables are the last thing on the mind of the shopper. Like has been said all the various half baked ideas that this lot have had are never backed with any cash and is all talk as far as I am concerned.
Don’t get me wrong I am all for anything that helps us but how is it that as mere Domestic Appliance Engineers there are enough viable minds here who could easliy come up with real sustainable ideas that would make a real difference to the problems of not only our industry but the wider enviroment ????????
Politcians ? Who needs them !
Re: Can’t Think Of One!
maltheviking wrote: do you know of any policy that this government has put into play that they have backed up with hard cash?
Er, yes. “Standing shoulder to shoulder with America on Iraq” and uh, a little matter of bolstering a certain failing bank with Rock in the title.
Mike.Re: Can’t Think Of One!
With respect – both of which they were forced into, rather than went willingly 8)
Re: Can’t Think Of One!
Dales-Electronic wrote:With respect – both of which they were forced into, rather than went willingly 8)
True enough. And that means that it’s not really the government which runs this country. And so changing it would make little difference. Elections just give us the illusion that we have some tiny bit of influence. :silent: majority.
Mike.Re: Can’t Think Of One!
I was a bit confused 😕 with the Times article (Wed 20th Aug) Where they state
“The Lords committee admits that it may not be in manufacturers interests to build longer- lasting goods, and suggests that the manufacturers be given an incentive to make sustainable goods.
The committee argues that variable VAT should be introduced so that goods that use sustainable materials would attract lower rates of VAT or none at all”It`s the sustainable materials bit that confuses 😕 me as metal makes up the biggest percentage of washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers.
Is metal more sustainable than plastic or plastic more sustainable than metal when recycled 😕
If the latter is the case then will we see even more plastic materials introduced on future models?Graham
Re: Can’t Think Of One!
Worth putting a comment to this.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/e … 568941.eceGraham
Re: Can’t Think Of One!
Turbo wrote:
It`s the sustainable materials bit that confuses 😕 me as metal makes up the biggest percentage of washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers.
Is metal more sustainable than plastic or plastic more sustainable than metal when recycled 😕
If the latter is the case then will we see even more plastic materials introduced to the products?Graham
Can anyone remember the launch of the current Zanussi range, I heard comments that the plastics involved in the machine could be re-cycled several dozen times, does anyone know if this has happened this side of planet Z? As far as I am aware the majority still go straight into landfill 😥Re: Can’t Think Of One!
Yes Mal, Carboran is what you mean. It was primarily used in the outer tub and base, I don’t know if it still is now as the welded tank I have in the office certainly isn’t Carboran.
Big fanfare at launch, reusable up to twelve times and all that… just one small problem…
Electrolux totally failed to provide any way to return the stuff for recycling!
So, in the 15 years or whatever it’s been about I’d wager that very, very little if any has ever been recycled. As you say, thousands of tonnes of the stuff will be buried in landfill sites all over Europe.
K.
Re: Can’t Think Of One!
It has always appeared to me that an Askoll pump was invented so that you could take out the middle bit and re-use the undamaged coil/stator.
But I’ve never been able to buy a rotor/housing seperately and when I e-mailed Askoll about it some years back, I didn’t get a reply. Maybe I should have tried to get my request translated into italian.
Mike.Re: Can’t Think Of One!
It’s worth noting that the current VAT rates in the UK (i.e Standard @ 17.5{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} and Reduced @ 5{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}) are the cheapest (overall) in Europe. 😉
The process of establishing a reduction in VAT on goods and services that have an effective, sustainable and environmental impact will be almost impossible to quantify, clarify or even ratify. Add to that, the fact that any right minded government will quickly realise that those same goods and services have a 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} commercial interest whether their products be recyclable or not..!
Even our brainless Chancellor with the tinted eyebrows will spot the obvious failing in that ploy. If the Lords keep banging on about it he may even raise the duty from 17.5{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} to 20{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d} or more in line with other EC countries 😆
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