As an essential component of establishing a circular economy, device repair is a cornerstone of device reuse, making it a critical step in accomplishing e-waste reduction. The Right to Repair movement supports consumers’ right to repair their own devices, and is now a topic of legislation in all 50 U.S. states. The latest to pass repair legislation, Texas recently passed a right-to-repair bill that presents a distinct approach from others of its kind.
Repair legislation is typically favored by Democratic voters, making the bills difficult to pass in certain states; however, Texas legislators became the first in a “red state” to send a right-to-repair consumer electronics bill to the governor’s desk. With 130 yes votes in the House and a unanimous vote in the Senate, House Bill 2963 marks significant progress for Texas electronics consumers.
While the bill’s language is similar to others, SB 2963 only applies to devices purchased after Sept. 1, 2026. It provides more safeguards for OEMs, specifically those with a wholesale price of more than $50. Additionally, it does not ban parts pairing. Rather than making documentation, replacement parts, or tools available to third-party repair shops, the OEM could provide an owner reimbursement for the item or “an equivalent or better, readily available replacement” as a form of “alternative relief.”
The bill’s regulations will only apply to owners who are original purchasers, not purchasers of secondhand devices. The bill has many exclusions, including motor vehicles, farm equipment, IT equipment critical to national security, medical devices, airplanes, trains, heavy equipment, commercial and industrial electrical equipment, home appliances, and video game consoles.
The Critical Nature of Device Repair & Reuse
Repairing used IT assets helps prepare them for remarketing, and remarketing used devices helps create sales channels for those seeking alternatives to new devices. Remarketing significantly reduces the demand for new devices and the resources required to mine new metals for new devices. Device repair and reuse play a crucial role in circularity as a cohesive step in a circular economy. In a digital world, reuse is the primary method of preserving functional materials and extending the lifecycle of retired electronics.
Right-to-Repair legislation requires OEMs to loosen restrictions that prevent third-party repair shops from repairing electronics. Although it is a notoriously controversial subject, OEMs are becoming more open to the idea. Repair legislation also enables ITAD providers like HOBI to repair retired IT assets for remarketing, maximizing asset value, and keeping used equipment in circulation.
HOBI International, Inc., is an R2v3, RIOS, WBE, and ISO 14001 certified IT asset management and disposition enterprise with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. HOBI focuses on maximizing economic return and mitigating environmental liability at every step of the disposition process. We also offer data erasure and security services for devices being repaired for reuse and onsite reverse logistics services for asset relocation or decommission.
For more information about our ITAD services, call 817-814-2620 or contact HOBI at sales@hobi.com.