Using policies to encourage consumers to extend the useful life of home appliances

Any kind of household electrical appliance has a service life, and if it exceeds the service life, it will bring about many problems such as energy consumption and security. Therefore, relevant government departments, industry associations and the media are calling for the timely elimination of overage appliances. O. Smith's use of 50 years of advertising has attracted criticism from many people in and outside the industry. However, when reporters interviewed several industry experts from Japan, Europe and the United States shortly before, they began to understand this type of advertisement a bit. In those countries, whether it is the government, industry associations and enterprises, from the perspective of energy conservation and environmental protection, sometimes even using policies and regulations to encourage consumers to extend the useful life of home appliances, delay the speed of product replacement.

Deputy Director of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Commerce and Information Technology, Deputy Director of Information Communication Machines Division Min Yongmin told reporters that unlike China’s request for manufacturers and importers to pay for recycling of used appliances, the Japanese Home Appliances Recycling Act stipulates that waste should be consumed by To pay for recycling. Not only that, although the regulations stipulate that sellers are responsible for the recycling of used household appliances, when consumers discard used appliances, they must send their eliminated products to the seller’s designated collection location. The related transportation costs are also borne by consumers themselves. Min Yongmin stated that an important reason for the formulation of these regulations is to reduce the amount of waste emitted in order to promote consumers to use home appliances for a longer period of time.

Walter Al-corn, Vice President of Environmental Affairs and Industry Sustainability at the Consumer Electronics Association of the United States, told reporters that although the U.S. federal government has not yet issued a uniform recycling program for used appliances, there are already 25 states that have already introduced relevant laws and regulations. Consumers pay for the recycling of used home appliances to stimulate consumers to reduce e-waste emissions.

Gao Baoling, senior director of the group's technical department of Bosi-Siemens Home Appliances Investment (China) Co., Ltd., also said in an interview that the European Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment came into effect on January 27, 2003. The directive requires producers. Responsible for recycling, consumer payment related to the cost of recycling, very effectively stimulated consumers to extend the appliance life of the consciousness. At present, the average life span of various home appliances in the European Union is very long, the highest has reached 25 years, effectively reducing the emissions of used appliances, and improving the effect of energy-saving emission reduction.

In the interview, experts from Japan and Europe and the United States almost all proceeded from the perspective of energy-saving and emission reduction, emphasizing the importance of extending the useful life of home appliances to energy-saving and environmental protection, and stimulating consumers to prolong the useful life of home appliances through various policies and regulations. However, experts also reminded consumers that the extension of the useful life of home appliances is also a prerequisite for safety, regular inspection and maintenance of home appliances, to ensure the safety of the conditions, to extend the useful life.