Rising costs revive repair economy

The Express Tribune reported that rising living costs are encouraging Pakistanis to repair phones, laptops and appliances rather than replace them. Technicians, workshop owners and spare-parts dealers are building a business on the view that keeping an old product working makes better economic sense when new items are expensive. The business now intersects with refurbishing, resale of used devices, recovery of components and e-waste recycling.

A 2026 report by 6Wresearch examines the e-waste sector and lays out a chain in which a device may be repaired, have parts reused, be refurbished and resold before its materials are recovered. Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan said Samsung has offered plans for authorised handset refurbishing units in Pakistan, and officials argue such a regulated setup could support local industry, jobs and exports. The climate ministry said in 2025 that about 500,000 tonnes of e-waste are produced yearly, much of it handled informally and unsafely.

The paradox is that informal repair keeps products in use for longer, yet the same informal system can become hazardous when devices are dismantled without safeguards. A more structured chain could let households return unused gadgets, let technicians salvage working parts and let licensed recyclers extract materials from beyond-repair equipment. For small firms, this could shift informal repair work toward organised, formal service activity.