RevaluRepair

RevaluRepair was an Innovate UK research project delivered by TTB Circular Solutions in partnership with The Restart Project and University College London, exploring the environmental, economic and social value of repair at scale.

RevaluRepair examined how repair and refurbishment can:

• Extend product life and reduce CO2e

• Make high-quality tech more affordable and accessible

• Support skilled green jobs

• Strengthen high street economies

• Build resilient circular ecosystems

The project used real-world device processing, operational insight and community data to test what works and what needs to change.

Overview

Operating as Tech-Takeback, TTB Circular Solutions contributed:

• secure data erasure expertise

• reuse-first device processing

• parts recovery and testing

• behavioural insight from community collections

• knowledge of what makes reuse and repair viable

This helped ground the research in real practice, not theory.

Key findings and essential insights

Repair has strong environmental benefits

Repair significantly reduces emissions compared with buying new and keeps products in circulation for much longer. Component harvesting can reduce impact further by enabling the reuse of high-value parts.

Repair Hubs can be financially viable

High street repair hubs can be financially sustainable when combined with reuse-first processing, parts harvesting and strong community demand.

Repair delivers social benefits

Repair hubs support:

• affordable access to devices

• local skills development

• new circular jobs

• increased community engagement

Repair also supports digital inclusion when refurbished tech reaches people who need it most.

Barriers prevent repair from scaling

The project found several challenges:

• low public awareness of repair options

• inconsistent access to spare parts

• thin margins for SMEs

• policy and procurement systems that favour recycling

• lack of standardised repair data

Without systemic change, repair will remain underused despite high potential.

Major opportunities for growth

The research identified practical steps to expand repair regionally and nationally:

• council-backed repair hubs

• combining repair + reuse in local circular systems

• expanded skills and training pathways

• community engagement to normalise repair

• right-to-repair policies and access to parts

• embedding repair in circular procurement strategies

Multi-criteria Assessment Matrix

RevaluRepair developed a multi-criteria assessment matrix (MCAM) to help repair and reuse organisations quickly, effectively and consistently identify the most appropriate pathways for common tech items.

Financial value in isolation is not sufficient to determine the viability of repair and reuse, and risks many items being prematurely designated as waste. The MCAM draws on a number of criteria to identify whether an item should be recycled, disassembled for parts, repaired, refurbished or reused:

• age, build and condition

• ease of repair

• environmental outcomes

• onward market/financial value

• social value potential

• historic value

The project concluded that many items with a low onward market value retained a high social value if reused.

Project outcomes

RevaluRepair delivered:

• a clearer understanding of repair’s environmental and social value

• evidence for viable repair hub models

• insight into user behaviour and community demand

• practical pathways for councils and partners to support repair

• a strategic framework for integrating repair into circular systems

Work with us

We collaborate with councils, researchers, reuse organisations and contractors to build the next generation of repair and reuse systems.