Austria wants you to fix broken equipment. And they will pay you.

The World

You break a bone, there’s a doctor. Your car breaks down, there’s a mechanic. But if your smartphone stops working, it’s often easier to just buy a new one. But the constant churn of trashing and buying new electronics isn’t just bad for your wallet, it’s also bad for the environment. To reduce e-waste, Austria is starting a nationwide program to encourage consumers to repair the old, instead of buying the new. Host Marco Werman speaks with Sepp Eisenriegler, the owner of the Repair and Service Center in Austria and also helped found Umweltberatung, an environmental consulting organization.

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