I am one and I don't understand it either
I am a safety officer and chemical hygiene officer; yet, my safety supervisor is constantly telling me that I can't repair anything because I am not "certified" by whatever company made the thing in the first place. Replacing a bad cord/plug seems like a no brainer, yet I have been told to get rid of these $300 items and order new ones, which is an expensive ticket item for a school. One particular item was very irritating, and were $400 power supplies where the internal fuse (1/4" x 1 1/4" common in most electronics) had blown, but was installed by the manufacturer by soldering it into the wiring and not in a replaceable fuse holder. My second degree in electronics and certificate in electronic repair doesn't seem to suffice either, and it makes me very sad to see where our society is headed and how limiting we are making ourselves in the guise of safety. Didn't I read somewhere that a lot of trashed electronics are not recycled in the USA, but sent overseas where they do?