Shy arrival of the sustainability index in France: what is this new rating for?

This is a small victory for the right to repair. After years of work, procrastination and disappointments, the sustainability index finally arrives in France. From today, televisions, whether sold on the Internet or in stores, will have to display this brand new pictogram intended to help consumers make purchasing choices that are more respectful of the planet.

If this speech reminds you of anything, it's completely normal. This was also the ambition of the repairability indexin force since 2021. 4 years after its debut, this index, still too little democratizedwill be slowly replaced by the sustainability index therefore. First on televisions from today, then on washing machines from April. Other products will suffer the same fate, except the smartphone which is trapped in legal limbo since Brussels suspended the index a few months ago.

More criteria for longer life

Concretely, this new score will take the form of a red, orange, yellow or green pictogram affixed next to the products concerned. Next to a small hourglass supposed to represent the product's ability to last over time, the overall rating out of 10 for the gadget in question will be displayed.

Because yes, the big novelty of the durability index is the introduction of criteria measuring the reliability of devices over time. Sub-ratings for resistance to stress and wear must be established for each device, as well as a rating concerning the ease of maintenance and upkeep of the device and another concerning the duration of the warranty (with the maximum reached for 3 years of coverage).

These new criteria will be added to those already in place via the repairability index to give a more global idea of ​​the handling of a product. The calculation grids established by the legislative power are also extremely rich with evaluations concerning the manufacturing of the product, its accessories, the availability of documentation and technical parts, and even a section on maintenance actions. Overall, the more a manufacturer communicates about the right actions to make its product last, the better its rating will be.

Shy beginnings

This emphasis on communication also annoys the Stop Planned Obsolescence association a little, which regrets that “some points on the television index appear too easy to obtain“. For HOP, “This is the case, for example, of the criterion relating to the accessibility of information with regard to the interview. Manufacturers get points if they show, for example, that it is necessary to turn off the device after use, or to take care of the remote control“.

The association also regrets that “this sustainability index still concerns too few products“, but she still emphasizes in the globals, “a major step forward for consumers and the environment“.

It must be said that the arrival of the sustainability index risks doing good business for specialists in the fight against planned obsolescence, because the transparency requirements on product ratings and tests have also been increased. , allowing the curious to snoop more effectively, to randomly pinpoint manufacturers who are having fun committing fraud.