The new draft proposal published by the European Commission contains really interesting details. From what we know, in fact, the EU is willing to ask smartphone manufacturers to provide spare parts for at least five years from the date of introduction of a device. And to guarantee one longer battery life. But let’s find out something in more detail.
EU: Smartphones will need to have a longer battery life
As reported by the Financial Times, the EU would be willing to ask smartphone manufacturers for a battery that it knows survive at least 500 charges complete, without deteriorating below 83% of its capacity. Furthermore, smartphones sold in the EU are also expected to show an energy efficiency labelsimilar to those used for washing machines and dishwashers, showing the expected battery life and other device characteristics, such as drop resistance.
The draft of the European Union, for the moment, concerns exclusively tablet e smartphone. And it is based on the idea that by making hardware easier to repair and recycle, the energy consumption involved in manufacturing and using a device would be reduced by one third. Currently, for example, all owners of an Apple device can enjoy a repair service for a minimum of five years from the last product distribution. After this date the devices become “obsolete”, making it more difficult to replace the components as well. In this sense, the company seems almost in line with what is requested by the Community.
But the EU proposal is also about the software of smartphones. In fact, producers are required to supply security updates per five years after device market exit, and feature updates for three years. Another proposal that could end up having bad repercussions on Android, and less influence on Apple. For their part, manufacturers have reported that making more components available increases the consumption of plastic, resulting in a waste of resources. But the EU has warned that products that do not meet its sustainability requirements “will go out of business”.