The European Commission today presented a proposal to integrate connectors for smartphones. USB-C should become the standard port in the EU. It’s not just about mobile phones, the same design applies to tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers, and portable game consoles. The aim is to reduce the chaos in connectors and the number of cables sold. Apple probably won’t like it, which still uses its Lightning connector on the iPhone, with which it sells millions of phones every quarter.
However, another point is part of the proposal, which deals with separating charger sales from electronics sales. Customers should be able to buy new devices without a charging adapter. It aims to reduce the number of unintentionally purchased and surplus chargers and the environmental footprint associated with their production and disposal.
Waste and unused chargers are said to represent 11,000 tons of electronic waste each year. So the numbers only practically confirm this, which has already been advocated by some big manufacturers like Apple or Samsung to remove the charger.
The European Commission also wants to end the chaos over fast charging standards. Today, it is customary for most manufacturers to use their own solutions and provide lower charging speeds when using a non-original charger than with an original charger. With the new proposal, the commission wants to ensure that the speed is always the same regardless of the charger manufacturer.
The European Commission’s proposal is yet to be decided by the European Parliament and the Council. In case of approval, a transitional period of 24 months will begin to give manufacturers sufficient time to adapt to any new conditions. We will first see the proposals put into practice by the end of 2023.
Chargers started. What else can be removed from the phone packaging?
Source The European Commission
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