Making Repair a Priority Circular Economy Intervention

Repair initiatives are consistently overlooked when it comes to government funding, waste reduction research and environmental benefit analysis. Repair has long been considered the realm of product stewardship, but we know we can’t rely on manufacturers to repair goods that are poorly made in the first place. The NSW EPA’s Local Government Waste Solutions Fund has $10M to distribute to local Councils across 4 grant rounds from 2023 – 2026. A quick look through the recipients for rounds 1 and 2 reveals that of 21 projects funded, only 2 involved running repair initiatives, receiving $515,000 – 13% of the overall funds allocated. Not-for-profit or social enterprise initiatives that focus on repair aren’t eligible to apply for any funding to run feasibility studies, undertake pilot projects or scale operations.

Repair services create jobs, reduce waste and in extending the life of an item we get ‘more bang for the buck’ of the embodied carbon emissions from the production phase.

In August 2024, the Australian Treasurer, Jim Chalmers said: “By re-using and recycling and repairing more of our waste, we can create more opportunities right through the supply chain for Australian companies and Australian workers”.

The Reconnect Project isn’t just a charity distributing refurbished mobile tech to people in need, we’re also a business that trains and employs people in a local repair workshop environment. We’ve created our own circular economy ‘hierarchy’ – where repair is priority #1, followed by reclaim (harvesting spare parts) and then recycling (downcycling of ewaste). A recent visitor from a large corporate that proactively supports social impact initiatives said, “now THIS is an ideal setup for a social enterprise”.

We’re the 2024 National Banksia Foundation Sustainability Awards recipient for Circular Economy. Our team have a wealth of knowledge and experience in establishing and operating repair and reuse initiatives. The Reconnect Project model is ready to replicate in other locations and employ more people – if only we had the funding.

Annette Brodie
Founder & CEO
The Reconnect Project