• The European Parliament last week voted in favour of making batteries in technology more easily replaceable.
• The European Commission similarly proposed making technology more easily repairable, as well as helping consumers make informed decisions based on a device’s ability to be repaired.
• It remains to be seen how manufacturers will abide by or challenge these rules and proposals.

Not to sound like the greying old man that I am, but, there was a time when one could simply open your smartphone and switch out the battery when it stopped lasting as long as it did when it was powered on for the first time ever.

Truth be told, that “time” was less than a decade ago, but you’d be forgiven for not knowing this was a standard practice back in the before times.

The European Parliament and the European Commission want to change this and there have already been moves in the direction of making smartphones and other electronics more repairable without needing a kit of specialised tools as well as making battery makers more environmental responsible.

Let’s start with the European Parliament which last week voted in favour – with 587 votes – of overhauling the European Union’s rules on batteries and waste batteries. The rules were first proposed in December 2020 and aim to promote a circular economy as well as reduce the environmental and social impact a battery has throughout its life cycle.

These new rules include:

• “A compulsory carbon footprint declaration and label for electric vehicles (EV) batteries, light means of transport (LMT) batteries (e.g. for electric scooters and bikes), and rechargeable industrial batteries with a capacity above 2kWh;
• Designing portable batteries in appliances in such a way that consumers can themselves easily remove and replace them;
• A digital battery passport for LMT batteries, industrial batteries with a capacity above 2 kWh, and EV batteries;
• A due diligence policy for all economic operators, except for SMEs;
• Stricter waste collection targets: for portable batteries – 45% by 2023, 63% by 2027 and 73% by 2030; for LMT batteries – 51% by 2028 and 61% by 2031;
• Minimum levels of materials recovered from waste batteries: lithium – 50% by 2027 and 80% by 2031; cobalt, copper, lead and nickel – 90% by 2027 and 95% by 2031;
• Minimum levels of recycled content from manufacturing and consumer waste for use in new batteries: eight years after the entry into force of the regulation – 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.”

Member of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Achille Variati said of the vote, “For the first time, we have circular economy legislation that covers the entire life cycle of a product – an approach that is good for both the environment and the economy. We agreed on measures that greatly benefit consumers: batteries will be well-functioning, safer and easier to remove. Our overall aim is to build a stronger EU recycling industry, particularly for lithium, and a competitive industrial sector as a whole, which is crucial in the coming decades for our continent’s energy transition and strategic autonomy. These measures could become a benchmark for the entire global battery market.”

While we live in hope that this will become a benchmark, we are cautious in that repairable optimism. For one, as per India Express, these rules only come into effect in 2027, which is more than enough time for manufacturers to find loopholes or even outright appeal the ruling and campaign to have them changed.

For instance, many of the rules above are for batteries 2kWh and up. We also suspect that – when it comes to portable batteries at least – the likes of smartphone and tablet makers would argue that their products are too complex to allow for this while also preserving things like water and dust resistance.

This leads nicely into the proposal from the European Commission.

Once again, technology makers are in the cross sights of law makers who want technology to be more energy efficient, durable, and repairable.

The commission proposes that mobile and cordless phones in the European Union market be, at a minimum:

• “Resistance to accidental drops or scratches, protection from dust and water and use of sufficiently durable batteries. Batteries should withstand at least 800 cycles of charge and discharge while retaining at least 80% of their initial capacity.
• Rules on disassembly and repair, including obligations for producers to make critical spare parts available to repairers within 5-10 working days, and until 7 years after the end of sales of the product model on the EU market.
• Availability of operating system upgrades for longer periods: for at least 5 years after the product has been placed on the market.
• Non-discriminatory access for professional repairers to any software or firmware needed for the replacement.”

In addition, products in the EU would have to feature a reparability score.

“This will help EU consumers make more informed and sustainable purchasing choices and encourage sustainable consumption,” the EU wrote.

Some manufacturers are already doing some of these proposed activities. For example, Samsung said in 2021 that it’s smartphones bearing the Galaxy branding would receive four years of security updates. This was increased to five years in 2022.

Apple offers the ability to purchase repairable parts or service its devices for a period of five years since the product was last distributed by Apple for sale.

The European Commission reckons that if all manufacturers abide by these rules, it could reduce primary energy use by 14 terawatt hours per year by 2030. This is equal to a third of the current energy use of those products today.

As tech consumers, this is all very exciting and bodes well for the future of the battery sector. How manufacturers react however, remains to be seen, but we suspect that many of these rules may change before the come into effect.

[Image – Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay]