The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is to encourage the listing of repairability scores for electronic products starting with smartphones and laptops in a bid to promote consumers’ right to repair, it said on Thursday.
Technology companies engage in planned obsolescence as a business strategy, which spurs consumers to buy new products to replace devices that could be repaired, resulting in waste, EPA Recycling Fund Management Board Executive Director Wang Yueh-bin (王嶽斌) said.
The right-to-repair movement — which is gaining traction in the EU — has resulted in labeling rule changes that would require manufacturers to list the repairability score of their electronic products, Wang said.
Photo: Chen Chia-yi, Taipei Times
France unveiled a mandate in 2021 requiring electronics manufacturers or importers to list the repairability of their products, he said, adding that such rules help consumers make sustainable choices.
The EPA believes that Taiwan should adopt similar rules and measures should be introduced to ease manufacturers into the new regulatory environment ahead of time, he said.
The repairability score is to be based on the ease of disassembly, the availability and price of spare parts, and the availability of information on the product’s service life and instructions about repairs, Wang said.
Manufacturers, importers and retailers would be urged to clearly label the repairability score of devices for consumers to make informed decisions about their purchases, he added.
A conference with 30 smartphone and laptop makers was to take place yesterday, where instructions for manufacturers were to be unveiled, Wang said.
The EPA would not mandate the listing of repairability scores for electronic devices immediately, but regulations in that vein are likely to be introduced eventually, he said.
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
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