A Toaster for Life? Prototyping futures for Right-to-Repair policy and practice.

New EU and UK legislation for citizens’ Right-to-Repair electronic products came into force in 2021 but the policies do not account for the repair and reuse of billions of everyday smart devices. The Toaster for Life is a speculative design which challenges the unsustainable status quo in that it presents a vision for repairable and reusable smart device design which incorporates modular parts, bio-materials and open source hardware/software.

In doing so, the speculation raises important questions regards future Right-to-Repair policy and practice – how must the current legislation evolve to accommodate smart device repair? Will tech manufacturers be able to integrate effective repairability into their product hardware/software? How can greater numbers of citizens engage in repair that is safe and economically worthwhile? Can repair policy contribute to circular economy goals to the same degree as recycling?