Ministers are facing fresh calls to scrap VAT on all repaired and refurbished electronics, with businesses, charities and community groups arguing the move would help households cut costs and stop electrical goods being binned prematurely.
In a letter to the environment secretary, Steve Reed, the signatories say that removing VAT on repaired electronics should be part of a wider push to cut waste, extend the life of products and develop a “truly circular economy”.
At the moment, refurbished electronics sold by businesses in the UK are generally subject to the same VAT rate as new electrical goods.
Katy Medlock, the UK general manager at Back Market, said cost remained the “number one deciding factor” influencing whether consumers chose refurbished electronics over new.
“If we want to reduce e-waste by making refurbishment the norm, refurbished products must be as accessible as possible,” she said. “Cutting VAT on reused, refurbished and repaired goods and services would directly benefit consumers by lowering prices, making it a no-brainer for more people to choose sustainable options.”
Ease and accessibility are also still missing from most repair options, said Dr Adam Read, the chief external affairs and sustainability officer at Suez UK, one of the country’s largest waste and recycling companies.
“The first barrier is people don’t actually go out to the shop to buy [electronics any more],” he said. “They literally push a button on a phone and a new toaster appears within 24 hours.”
Repair, by comparison, can feel slow, uncertain or inaccessible, he said. “If you could get the same item for half the price from a reputable repair system, you’d see a huge upturn in demand – and that’s got to be good for everyone, whether they’re students, low-income households or just people trying to be frugal.”
Fiona Dear, a co-director of the Restart Project, a charity that promotes repair and reuse of electronics, said policy needed to catch up with growing demand from businesses and communities, and welcomed support for measures that could make repair more accessible.
“We know that, like community repair groups, many businesses are interested in repairing more products – and there are some great examples of innovation to repair and reuse at scale.
“But keeping things in use is often harder and more costly than it should be. Policymakers can be wary of opposition from business, so it’s great to see some well-known brands joining the call for ambitious measures that can make repair and reuse simpler and cheaper for all of us.”
Repair and reuse should be seen as a way to boost green jobs and skills, the letter says. It estimates that growth in the repair economy could generate 31,000 jobs by 2035, rising to more than 80,000 by 2040.
“It’s green jobs, it’s good economics, it’s great for communities,” Read said. “I think there’s huge potential in the workforce that currently is underemployed or out of the economic system.
“Just like carpenters and plumbers never go out of fashion, people working in repair and reuse are going to become absolutely critical to the way the economy runs in the future.”
He added that interest in the sector was already growing, especially among younger people. “You look at the colleges that are offering these types of practical courses – whether it’s west London or Manchester – they’re inundated with 18- to 24-year-olds that want to learn skills that are going to be applicable in the future.”
The letter is backed by 25 organisations and businesses, including Currys, Back Market, Suez, the Restart Project and repair cafe networks across the UK.
A Treasury spokesperson said: “The government is committed to reducing waste which is why our circular economy taskforce will help develop a strategy for England with a roadmap to increase the reuse and recycling of electrical equipment.
“The chancellor makes tax policy decisions at fiscal events [budgets]. We do not comment on speculation around future changes to tax policy”.