Every day in the UK, millions of items are thrown away and replaced with something new.

3.83 million items of clothing. 1.29 million electronic items. 408,000 pairs of shoes. 60,000 pieces of furniture. All discarded, every single day.

Many could have been repaired. Most could have been kept in use.

But we have built a throwaway economy where replacing something is often easier, cheaper and more accessible than repairing it.

And that needs to change.

We talk a lot about recycling as part of the circular economy and it receives huge investment (£1.4 billion funding this year). But recycling happens after something has already become waste.

Repair stops waste from being created in the first place.

When we repair something, we avoid the need (and cost) to extract new raw materials, manufacture a replacement and eventually dispose of the old one. We keep products in use. We reduce carbon emissions. We support skilled people and small businesses. We keep money circulating in our local communities.

And the opportunity is enormous.

Research by SUEZ found that if every UK household repaired or reused just two additional items a year, we could keep 23 million more items in use, generate £1.6 billion for local economies and create 74,200 skilled jobs.

Yet repair remains largely invisible in our national Net Zero and environmental strategies.

Why?

The repair economy already exists. Independent repair businesses, restorers, upholsterers, cobblers, tailors, electronics repairers and community repair groups are already keeping millions of items in use.

They have the skills, they have the knowledge and they are doing the work.

What they don't have is enough recognition and support from the government to help them scale to meet demand. And without repair, we cannot build a truly circular economy.

Without repair:
Products have shorter lives.
More usable items become waste.
Second-hand markets lose valuable stock.
Skilled jobs and heritage, traditional skills are at risk.
We continue extracting new resources to replace items we already own.

Repair isn't a niche environmental issue. It's a climate solution. A jobs opportunity. A local economic opportunity. A skills opportunity.

And it should be part of the UK's plan to reach Net Zero and tackle climate change.

Ahead of International Repair Day on 17th October, we have written an Open Letter (read the full letter here) and are calling on Prime Minister, Andy Burnham and the UK Government to:

• Make repair a core part of the UK's Net Zero and Circular Economy strategies.
• Invest in the repair sector, including micro businesses, skills, apprenticeships and community repair.
• Measure the carbon savings created by repair and extending product life.
• Strengthen Right to Repair, ensuring products are designed to be repaired and independent repairers can access the parts, tools and information they need.
• Give local authorities and Mayors the resources to make repair part of local economic and environmental strategies.

We don't need to invent the repair economy. It's already here.

We need the government to recognise it, invest in it and give it the opportunity to thrive.

Because every person in the UK should be able to easily repair, reuse or pass something on, instead of throwing it away.

Sign the petition. Tell the UK Government that repair matters. Make repair impossible to ignore.