Parliament and the European Council reached an interim agreement to require all portable devices to have replaceable batteries. The measure is quite comprehensive, but it should affect the smartphone segment above all.
The new agreement reached between two of the main bodies of the European Union stipulates that it will become mandatory to be able to replace the battery of any portable equipment. The agreement includes batteries of almost every size, from portable computers, Starting, Lightning and Ignition for vehicles (SLI), the LMT, of Light Means of Transport (for bicycles and electric scooters) and even batteries for electric vehicles (EV). and industrial. If the agreement is converted into legislation in the future, manufacturers will then have three and a half years to redesign their devices so that users can easily remove and replace batteries, explains the publication. GSMArena.
For conventional design smartphones, the transition to this type of battery should not be too complex, given that Samsung, with the Xcover, shows that it is possible to maintain resistance to water and dust and have replaceable batteries. For smartphones with screens that fold, there may be an additional challenge. In these devices, the batteries are divided into two units to ensure balance and weight distribution. With the requirement that these can be replaced, the job of redesigning the solution must be more complex.
The European Union's motivation for this plan is environmental: the organization intends to increase the volume of recycled material and wants to demand that at least 45% of old batteries be collected free of charge by 2023, a percentage that should rise to 63% in 2027 and to 73% by 2030 for portable batteries. In the case of LMT, the figures are 51% for 2028 and 61% for 2031.
Manufacturers operating in the European Union will be required to carry out due diligence to “address the social and environmental risks linked to the supply, processing and exchange of raw and secondary materials”.
The agreement also calls for all batteries to have labels and QR codes with information such as battery capacity, durability and chemical composition.
