08/13/2024

New ConPolicy study on consumer engagement in the sustainability transformation published on behalf of the German Environment Agency
Strong support for the right to repair, but fewer repairs than a few years ago

In view of the pressing global climate crisis, consumers are also faced with the challenge of consuming more sustainably. On the one hand, political measures are intended to promote sustainable consumption, such as the Right to Repair Directive adopted by the European Parliament in April 2024, which aims to make repairing easier and more attractive for consumers. On the other hand, such measures must also be recognised, understood and implemented by consumers. Against this background, ConPolicy conducted two in-depth surveys on environmental consumer protection issues as part of the environmental awareness study.

The in-depth study collected data on the attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of consumers with regard to the circular economy and sustainable consumption. For this purpose, forsa surveyed 1,022 people aged 14 and above in two representative online surveys in December 2022 and April/May 2023.

The study results show that respondents attach great importance to circular economy principles such as product quality and durability. The majority are also in favour of the right to repair, in particular the availability of spare parts (96 percent) and the ability to easily remove and replace them (95 percent). However, measures to prolong use, such as repairing defective items (46 percent) and selling or exchanging goods second-hand (28 percent) or buying second-hand (23 percent) were often to always relevant for fewer people. A comparison over time also shows that significantly fewer people stated that they had repaired their defective items in 2022 compared to 2014. The cost and availability of spare parts were cited as the main barriers here.

With regard to the perception of product-related claims, the study also shows that the vast majority found it difficult to check whether the product-related environmental claims were reliable (82 percent). In addition, the majority were often unsure whether only parts of a product (e.g. the packaging) or the entire product were environmentally friendly or did not know which products were really environmentally friendly (79 percent in each case). In addition, knowledge of the meaning of various product-related environmental claims was well developed for some terms (e.g. "recyclable" 87 percent correct answer), but incomplete for others (e.g. "regional" 26 percent correct answer). There was strong support for stronger regulation of product-related environmental claims.

The study results can be found here. 
For more information on the project click here.