As planned, the European Union has approved new standards related to the design, production and waste management of batteries sold in the European Union. After making the USB-C port mandatory for new smartphones, the EU now wants to make our smartphone batteries “easy to remove and replace”, opening the door to mobile phones having removable batteries again.
Affordable and replaceable batteries. It is undoubtedly the most interesting point of the law. Although the European Union statement does not expressly say that mobile phones have to have a removable casing to remove the battery, it does state that they must “design the portable batteries of the devices so that consumers themselves can remove and replace them.” easily”. This does not necessarily mean going back to phones from a few years ago with removable covers, but it does seem like the easiest and simplest solution, a priori.
more pickups. Waste also plays a role in the law, and the EU wants to be stricter in this regard. For portable batteries (mobile, portable…) the goal is to collect 45% in 2023, 63% in 2027 and 73% in 2030. For LMT batteries (light means of transport, such as scooters or electric bikes) , the goal is 51% in 2028 and 61% in 2031.
Greater recovery of materials. The idea is not only to collect the batteries, but to reuse the materials from them. In this sense, the EU divides the minimum objectives according to the mineral:
- Lithium: 50% by 2027 and 80% by 2031.
- Cobalt, copper, lead and nickel: 90% by 2027 and 95% by 2031.
And more recycling. This is a very long-term goal. The EU wants recovered materials to be recycled for use in new batteries. Again, there is a subdivision by materials and by years. And when we say that it is long term, we are talking about very long term.
- Eight years after the entry into force: 16% for cobalt, 85% for lead, 6% for lithium and 6% for nickel.
- 13 years after the entry into force: 26% for cobalt, 85% for lead, 12% for lithium and 15% for nickel.
Let’s see that carbon footprint. Finally, the law contemplates that a “mandatory declaration and label” of the carbon footprint will have to be added for the batteries of electric vehicles, light means of transport and industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2 kWh. Likewise, LMT batteries, those of electric vehicles and industrial ones will have to have a kind of digital passport. In addition, the law contemplates a “due diligence policy for all economic agents, except SMEs.”
Approved by vast majority. The law It has been approved with 587 votes in favour, nine against and 20 abstentions. However, now there is one more step to take. After the plenary vote, the Council will have to formally approve the text, which will subsequently be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force.
Another thing is repairability. As we discussed at the time, there is an aspect to take into account when we talk about handling a smartphone (or practically any device) and it is its repairability. The design of the devices, particularly the mobile ones, makes it difficult to open them to change a part. Although it is true that brands have to have spare parts for ten years and that some, such as Samsung or Apple, have home repair kits, repairability is still an aspect to take into account. It is not just a matter of identifying whether it is better or why, as it is already done, but to improve it, offer parts (in this case batteries) at a popular price and encourage the user to open the device by optimizing the design.
rmation | European Union
Image | Tyler Lastovich
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