Modern throw-away culture is a byproduct of Industry giants who have been left unchecked to run amok with practices of planned Obsolescence and false scarcity for far too long and we are all paying the price for it globally.
Landfills are overflowing with devices and technology containing precious metals and other resources, ranging from wristwatches to industrial vehicles and machinery purposfully designed to break down every few years for no reason other than to force consumers to refularly have to buy replacements for them.
Currently there are no penalties or incentives for them to change there ways, therefore I propose incentivizing u.s based companies to re-innovate and develop modular and/or easily recycleable technologies that can can be upgraded with minimal waste and requiring companies who co tonue employ wasteful practices to be penalized by financially contributing to the efforts to clean up after themselves.
I was going to start this topic but found yours. This is very important. Planned obsolescence is an evil greedy practice that it seems manufacturers have mastered. Machines breaking down just after the warranty period like clock work. A way to combat this planned breakdown is implement that all machines and products produced in the USA have to have replacement parts available. Every single part that can be replaced needs to be available. This will greatly reduce the amount of material going into the landfills. Secondly, there needs to be penalties to companies if they are intentionally making garbage. This will incentives the company to make long lasting engineered parts again for which the USA was so known to make in the past. Make America Great Again! Make it in America Again!
Precisely! I’m pretty sure more R&D money is spent on ensuring things last just long enough for the warrenty to end… There’s usually one or two parts that are engineered out of a softer material than they should be (e.g. the part that turns the ice crusher in my feezer is made of a waxy-plastic material…)
Ironically that R&D cost is also pushed onto the consumer in the final price of the item…