The EU last year finalized a common charging port for mobile phones, tablets, headphones and cameras. Now, it has revised EU rules on batteries sold in the region, including making them replaceable. New legislation passed by the EU Parliament orders portable batteries in devices to be designed in such a way that consumers can easily remove and replace them. The rules cover all rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices sold within the EU territory.
Last week, with a majority of 587 votes to nine, the EU Parliament approved amendments to the previous rules for batteries and waste batteries. The new rules cover the design, production and waste management of all rechargeable batteries sold within the EU and aim to make them more durable, sustainable and better performing. According to the new law, portable batteries must be designed in such a way that regular users can easily remove and replace them. As mentioned earlier, this includes vehicles, smartphones, cameras and tablets, and batteries for industrial use.
According to the new guidelines, batteries for electric vehicles and bicycles and rechargeable industrial batteries with a capacity of more than 2kWh must have mandatory carbon footprint declaration, labels and digital passports.
To encourage battery recycling, the new regulations also place requirements on recoverable materials used in new batteries. The collection target for portable batteries has been set at 45 percent by 2023, 63 percent by 2027 and 73 percent by 2030. For batteries from “light means of transportation” such as electric scooters, the target is 51 percent by 2028 and 61 percent by 2031. ,
The EU has also designed targets for the recovery of embedded materials. It aims to recover 50 percent of lithium by 2027 and 80 percent by 2031. For cobalt, copper, lead and nickel, the EU has set a target of 90 percent by 2027 and 95 percent by 2031.
As per the latest rule of thumb, packing user-replaceable portable batteries on devices will be a challenge for tech giants like Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi, as most of the offerings available in the market have non-removable batteries. The new regulation may force smartphone brands to redesign their products.
