In an effort to promote sustainable practices and reduce electronic waste, the European Union (EU) is set to introduce new regulations requiring smartphones and other electronic devices to have replaceable batteries. The aim is to empower consumers to change their device batteries easily and safely, thereby fostering a more circular economy and facilitating better waste management.
The ambitious regulation mandates that by 2027, end users must be able to remove and replace the batteries installed in their devices without facing unnecessary hurdles. This means manufacturers will no longer be allowed to use tricks or employ design techniques that make battery replacement difficult for consumers. Heat or solvents should not be necessary to disassemble the battery, and the use of specialized tools will be prohibited.
Areg Badalian, the owner of Fix Fox, an electronics repair shop in Brussels, shed light on some of the practices manufacturers have been using to make battery replacement a challenging task.
"Every time we take out a battery, we heat the back a little bit to make the electronics a bit more flexible so that when we take it out, we don't tear off other components. For example, the camera comes off when you do that. So you have to be careful, you have to avoid little pitfalls like that," he explained.
Some brands have gone to great lengths to make their devices harder to repair, even inventing custom screwdriver shapes to deter unauthorized repairs. However, the new EU regulation is set to put an end to such practices, ensuring consumers have the right to repair their devices easily.
While manufacturers can still use smaller components of the battery to make repairs more challenging, the overall goal is to make repair, collection, and recycling of electronic waste more accessible and efficient. The regulation also aims to increase the collection of device batteries, with a target of 63% of all batteries being collected by 2027. This move is expected to significantly reduce e-waste, as over 150 mn smartphones are discarded each year.
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