A new step towards the standardization of cell phones has given European Unionwhich has just passed a law making it “easy” to remove and replace mobile phone batteries.
The law that reopens the door to removable batteries is in the same vein as the standardization of the USB port.
While the European Union’s statement does not explicitly state that mobile phones must have a removable housing for battery removal, it does say that portable device batteries must be “designed to be easily removed and replaced by consumers themselves.” .
MEPs with 587 votes in favour, nine against and 20 abstentions supported the agreement reached with the Council to revise the EU rules on batteries and battery waste.
What are the essential points of the standard:
- A mandatory declaration and carbon footprint label for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, light duty batteries (LMT) (e.g. for electric scooters and electric bicycles) and industrial batteries with a capacity of more than 2 kWh;
- Design portable batteries in household appliances so that consumers can easy to remove and replace;
- A battery digital passport for LMT batteries, industrial batteries over 2 kWh and EV batteries;
- policy due diligence for all economic operators other than SMEs;
- collection goals waste tightening: for portable batteries: 45% by 2023, 63% by 2027 and 73% by 2030; for LMT batteries: 51% by 2028 and 61% by 2031;
- Minimum levels of recovered materials from used batteries: lithium: 50% by 2027 and 80% by 2031; cobalt, copper, lead and nickel: 90% by 2027 and 95% by 2031;
- Minimum levels of recycled content production and consumption waste for use in new batteries: eight years after the entry into force of the regulation: 16% for cobalt, 85% for lead, 6% for lithium and 6% for nickel; 13 years after entry into force: 26% for cobalt, 85% for lead, 12% for lithium and 15% for nickel.
Source: Digital Trends
