The European Union agrees to return removable batteries

After forcing mobile device manufacturers to adopt the USB-C port as a standard for charging and outputting accessories, the European Union (EU) has passed the official law that makes manufacturers adopt, once again, the use of removable batteries.

In this way, by 2027, all batteries and the products that use them (from cell phones to vehicles) will need to be redesigned so that they are accessible to users.

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According to the parliamentarians, the law serves to ensure that the sources have a safe and sustainable life cycle, in addition to stimulating competitiveness in companies in the region’s industry.

Batteries are key to decarbonization and the EU’s transition to zero-emission transport. At the same time, expired batteries contain many valuable resources and we should be able to reuse these raw materials instead of relying on third countries for supplies.

Teresa RiberaAnd Spanish Minister for Environmental Transformation

• The first proposal on this topic appeared in the European Union in 2020;
• Among the requirements for the batteries are “the use of responsibly sourced materials with restricted use of hazardous materials, minimal recycled material content, carbon footprint, performance, durability, and labeling, as well as meeting collection and recycling targets”;
• The new law will also allow consumers to replace batteries without having to go to technical assistance, as was the case in the case of mobile phones, laptops and remote controls, for example.

This is called right to mend and is an increasingly common position. For example, Nokia recently announced a smartphone with a repair kit. Apple has already launched the sale of repair accessories for its MacBooks.

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