Remember when your smartphone had removable batteries that you could take out when you wanted to? Yes? No? Well, the European Union is working on a bill to bring these batteries back to use on smartphones. This bill would aim to help smartphone users easily replace their batteries if necessary.
This bill also aims to improve the repairability of smartphone batteries. Currently, the cost of repairing built-in smartphone batteries is quite expensive. The European Union hopes that with this bill, smartphone users will swap their batteries by themselves if they develop a fault.
Truthfully, there are more pressing issues that need attention from the EU, especially as built-in batteries have become popular across smartphone brands. Taking a step back to removable batteries will shake up the entire smartphone industry. Even more, most, if not all laptops come with a built-in battery, unlike the replaceable batteries that were the case with early generation laptops.
According to the filing, smartphone manufacturers in the European Union have about three years to make necessary changes. Maybe, these smartphone OEMs might make the built-in batteries more accessible for repairs instead of swapping them for bulky replaceable batteries. Also, the bill requires that battery components be made from recycled materials.
Already, the European Union is forcing Apple to use USB Type-C ports on their coming iPhone series. This new bill from the European Union aims to promote battery sustainability in the coming years. But, this replaceable battery aspect of the bill will face resistance from smartphone manufacturers.
