Repair Bonus at AWISTA - An Outstanding Waste Prevention Measure

The municipal enterprise for waste management in the district of Starnberg (AWISTA Starnberg KU) has launched a so-called "repair bonus" for the first time in Bavaria in the district of Starnberg on January 1, 2022.

AWISTA KU

AWISTA KU thus takes up waste avoidance as one of the most important goals of waste management and gives its citizens clear help for implementation.

Repair bonus - repairing instead of throwing away
 
Consumers know how difficult it is to make sensible repairs in the retail sector. With the repair bonus one has an official requirement and in addition a considerable subsidy. Anyone who knows a little about resources is anyway convinced that the repair of a defective electrical appliance has a significantly lower environmental impact than a new purchase with parallel disposal of the old appliance. AWISTA Starnberg KU's goal is "...to reduce the amount of waste in this area by promoting professional repair, to bring about a change in thinking, to influence consumer behavior and thus to protect the environment."
 
On the clearly understandable website of AWISTA Starnberg KU, the potential applicant:in finds his/her way around easily at https://www.awista-starnberg.de/reparaturbonus/:
 
Funding is provided for the repair of household electrical appliances (tools, kitchen appliances, household appliances, toys, etc.). Services such as cleaning, software updates or maintenance, etc. are not funded.
 
For the year 2022, the funding pot of the repair bonus has been limited to €5,000. Legally speaking, there is therefore no legal entitlement to payment of the repair bonus, because once the pot has been exhausted, no more repairs will be funded.
 
The offer, which is new for the Free State of Bavaria, was to be tested first. Nevertheless, AWISTA Starnberg KU reserved the right to make another budget available if the funding pot should be exhausted within a very short time after the launch.
 
The subsidy amounts to 20% of the repair costs, but not more than € 50.00 per person and year; those entitled to apply must prove a permanent residence in the district of Starnberg. Further formalities are easy to comply with.
 
The district is aware that the bonus also supports local value creation, i.e. repair shops and other service providers.
 
Now, after one year of experience, AWISTA KU presents its first results.
 
Since the introduction of the waste prevention measure on 01.01.2022, a total of 129 applications were approved in the first full year (2022) and a total amount of €4,818 was paid out. The maximum amount of €50 was paid out 50 times.

Since the middle of the year, the non-profit repair initiatives have also been able to submit applications for funding for repairs carried out. In total, four RepairCafés submitted applications for funding and a total of € 3,080 was paid out, of which the maximum amount of € 1,000 per RepairCafé was paid out twice.
 
This showed that AWISTA had estimated the associated material expenditure quite well. The fact that this environmental innovation was also well received by the expert committees is shown by the Environmental Award 2022 that AWISTA has meanwhile received from the Competence Center Environment (KUMAS) under the title:
 
"Repair bonus - promoting the repair of electrical appliances as part of waste-avoiding measures".