In 2020, Luxembourg was the second-largest producer of landfill waste in Europe, throwing away the equivalent of 790 kilos per person in municipal waste. Repair Cafés offer one fix for the piles of broken goods filling up landfill.
In a community building in Schifflange, a queue of people wait patiently. Some carry boxes, others bags of electronics or furniture. At first glance, the scene resembles a flea market. But, here no money is exchanged and owners go home with the goods they brought with them. That is the motto of a repair café, a movement that is rapidly growing in Luxembourg.
Project coordinator Sarah Haas explains: “In the past 10 to 12 years, our repairers drove everywhere they were invited to do a repair café. That’s not sustainable because they were volunteers, driving long distances. All of their weekends were spent doing repair cafés”.
The organiser reached out to communes and climate teams to raise awareness in local communities and encourage them to create their own cafés, inviting residents to help with the repairs. Finding volunteers with the necessary skills has been easier than one might think. “Volunteers tend to be people who grow up with the repair sense because they got it from their parents or grandparents. We’ve also lots of professionals as well. They all know what they are doing and are very responsible,” says Haas.
“Volunteers tend to be people who grow up with the repair sense because they got it from their parents or grandparents.”
Sarah Haas, Project coordinator of Repair Cafe Letzebuerg
The types of objects members of the public can bring for repair will depend on the skills of the team on-site. Electronics, woodwork and mechanical expertise tend to be a mainstay but past cafés have also hosted experts in sewing, cycle repair and jewellery.
“What we don’t take are all the things that you cannot carry yourself, like washing machines,” says Haas. “Coffee machines, kettles, irons: the things you use daily are normally the kinds of electronic goods that we get.”
The concept of repairing in the community has existed for decades, however, declining costs of goods and planned obsolescence have contributed to a global throwaway culture. The first repair café was launched in Amsterdam in 2009 to repair and reuse broken items while fostering a sense of community. Today there are over 2,200 cafés held globally and, according to the Repair Foundation website, some 63% of objects brought to all repair cafés in recent years were repaired.
The grand duchy hosted its first repair café in 2013, leading to the creation of the Repair Café not-for-profit in 2016. Haas explains that the cafés are not just a place to drop your broken things and then pick them up later. The idea is to create a sociable environment in which people can learn from one another. While volunteers are at the heart of the initiative, in Luxembourg, coordination and in some instances, the spaces in which repair cafés are held, are financially supported by public money. The concept is also closely aligned to the 2020 policy “Null Offall Lëtzebuerg” announcement to end landfill waste by 2030, one of the pillars of which is waste prevention through repair and reuse.
But the movement still faces some challenges. Among them is the issue of insurance in the event that a device which has been repaired catches fire when used at home. “So far that has never happened,” says Haas, but this gray area remains a pain point for the movement. “We’re in contact with the ministry to find how we can make a law for repair cafés so that repairs and that users are covered,” says Haas.
This article was first published in the Silicon Luxembourg magazine. Read the full digital version of the magazine on our website, here. You can also choose to receive a hard copy at the office or at home. Subscribe now.
