Repair Café @KBC – Coworkers unite to repair and reuse

KBC organized its first Corporate Repair Café during the last week of November 2024, in collaboration with Maakbaar vzw. This inaugural edition took place at KBC Insurance’s headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. KBC is a leading European financial group with a focus on providing bank-insurance products and services to retail, SME and mid-cap clients, in their core countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria.

The corporate repair concept is simple yet effective: Colleagues with technical expertise  repair the broken devices of their less tech-savvy coworkers. These repair sessions not only gave the devices a second life but also created a unique opportunity for participants to learn and connect. Additionally, It raised awareness about the possibilities and benefits of repair.

Broken cables are a common issue and easy to repair.

An brought in her Siemens C3 vacuum cleaner for repair, which required what could only be described as \”open-heart surgery.\” The repairers had to fully dismantle the device to locate a broken cable near the start of the automatic cable roller. While broken cables are a common issue that can often be fixed with basic repair skills, accessing and repairing the cable in this particular location required a skilled and experienced touch. Aside from the damaged cable, the vacuum cleaner was in excellent condition and ready to serve for many more years.

Other devices successfully repaired by fixing cables included a hairdryer, a pair of headphones, and a Panasonic music player.

An shares her story: \”I am very happy that my device could be repaired. After seeing the damage, I have to admit, I’ve probably pulled too hard on the cable several times when it was already fully extended, just trying to reach that extra little bit. I think we’ve all been there… . The repairers have now marked the end of the power cord with orange and red tape, so I’ll clearly see when I’ve reached the limit. In the future, I’ll definitely think twice before pulling \’just a bit harder\’ on cables.\”

Impact & results: What was fixed together.

This corporate repair café concept was announced in september to KBC’s 16,000 Belgian staff members with the goal of matching KBC repairers with broken devices of coworkers. This resulted in 48 people showing up with a broken device and 22 repairers participating in one of the 4 repair shift spread over 2 days. A wide variety of small household electronics was brought in, ranging from malfunctioning vacuum cleaners and broken powertools to worn-out lamps and damaged kitchen appliances.

The repair café delivered impressive results. Of the 48 items brought in, 22 (or 41%) could be repaired directly. Additionally 7 items where deemed repairable after purchasing replacement parts or other follow-up actions. According to the repair data entered in restarters.net. This saved an estimated 613 kg of CO2, which is like growing 10 tree seedlings for 10 years

An eye-opening and magical experience for some.

For several participants, the corporate repair café was more than just a device repaired, but turned out to be an eye-opening and educational experience. Some visitors who had never before considered repairing their devices or attending a repair café became instant advocates for the concept. Additionally, this initiative has inspired some of the corporate repairers to get involved in their local repair cafés in their home towns.

Lieve shares her story: \”It was such a magical experience to watch the repairers open up my bread slicer, which had a faulty on/off switch. They carefully dismantled and cleaned the switch, and just like that, the device worked perfectly again! I learned that switch problems like mine are surprisingly common, and in many cases, the fix is quite simple. Looking back, I regret having thrown away other devices without even considering a visit to a repair café first.\”

Sewing machines have a high success rate

Marijke Demot from KBC Insurance, who co-organized the event alongside Kris Jehaes from Maakbaar, brought in her sewing machine, which had a blocked needle. The repairers not only fixed the issue but also took the time to sit with Marijke, explaining what had caused the blockage and offering tips on how she could prevent or fix it herself in the future.

Interestingly, all (2) sewing machines were successfully repaired during the repair café. From experience we know that sewing machines have a very high success rate, and too many are thrown away with only minor issues.

Repairers who have spent time working with sewing machines know they a high success rate for being repaired. One key reason is that these devices require basic training and familiarity to operate correctly. Many issues stem from improper setup or blockages caused by tangled threads, which are relatively simple to resolve.

When there is an actual damage, older sewing machines tend to have minimal complex electronics, making repairs more straightforward. Once the casing is removed, the robust mechanical components can be visually inspected and tested to identify the problem. Sabine’s sewing machine was repaired by replacing a worn-out rubber O-ring, costing less than one euro.

To be continued in 2025?

The overwhelmingly positive feedback and enthusiastic comments have inspired both the Maakbaar and KBC organizers to continue this initiative at other KBC bank & Insurance locations that host large numbers of employees. Although not yet finalized, plans are being discussed to expand this concept with maybe two Corporate Repair Weeks in 2025.

During KBC\’s Corporate Repair Week, many inspiring repair stories unfolded, each highlighting the impact and value of the initiative. The following images capture some of these moments and tell part of the story. The people that participated can tell the full story…

About Maakbaar and corporate repair cafés.

By prioritizing repair and reuse, Maakbaar (non-profit) aims to take a local, bottom-up and hands-on role in combating electronic waste caused by small electrical appliances. KBC is Maakbaar\’s 2nd corporate repair café partner. Maakbaar pioneered and organized it\’s first 2 corporate repair weeks in collaboration with Cronos in May and November 2024.

Kris Jehaes, the driver of the Corporate Repair Cafés in Belgium, concludes: \”Maakbaar views the Corporate Repair Café as a new and complementary repair channel alongside the traditional repair cafés. The Corporate Repair Café not only repairs devices, but also raises awareness of the issue of e-waste among employees, and, with some luck, also among their friends and family. This way, more people are encouraged to pursue repair, and we activate more repairers.

Kris continues \”Our ultimate goal is to build a motivated team at every corporate that can independently continue organizing repair activities on a regular basis. We remain available when needed, but we would prefer to convince other corporates to join the initiative.\”

The most important success factor in making a Corporate Repair Café possible within any organization is having 2-3 motivated colleagues who are eager to drive the initiative forward internally. Maakbaar will provide support to ensure the process is safe and professional, helping to make it happen effectively. That\’s why I call for motivated people working at: IMEC, Proximus, Telenet, Materialise, Euroclear and others to contact me and join this evolution.

In early 2023, vzw Maakbaar Leuven began reimagining the traditional repair café concept to suit a corporate setting. While repair cafés themselves are not new, as they originated in Amsterdam in 2009, the idea of Corporate Repair Cafés is innovative. Traditional repair cafés often face barriers that deter many people, despite being free of charge. One major obstacle is the time commitment, as these events typically take place on weekends. Additionally, the convenience—and often the gratification—of purchasing something new online with just a click further limits participation.By fall 2023, Maakbaar Leuven started introducing this concept to various companies across Belgium. The organization is targeting businesses with at least 1,000 employees, centralized around one office location. These criteria are crucial for ensuring a sufficient number of repairers and devices to make a Corporate Repair Café successful.