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The European Parliament amendments to the Radio Equipment Directive, if accepted by EU member states, will make USB Type-C connectors mandatory across an extended range of products, including laptops, displays and electronic toys [2].
ECOS believes this to be very good news for the environment: smartphone chargers alone generate some 11,000 to 13,000 tonnes of e-waste each year in the EU [3]. If we add chargers for other portable products such as laptop computers, this number triples. The Parliament’s proposal could help decrease the volume of charger e-waste.
The text proposed by the Parliament will also promote interoperability of fast charging functionality via the USB power delivery protocol. This will make it possible to charge different devices with common chargers and cables.
The proposal will require retailers to offer product options without charging cables included, enabling consumers to avoid the inconvenience and cost of unnecessary parts, as well as reduce the material impacts of their purchases.
The European Parliament proposes a future review that could ban the sale of chargers and cables with products altogether.
Wireless charging is an innovation for which the lack of common standards has created issues with poor interoperability across products, and a lack of transparency on wireless charging efficiencies. The Parliament also empowers the Commission to initiate the development of standards on wireless charging, which are currently inadequate.
Unfortunately, the Parliament’s position does not go as far as ECOS would have expected. The default option offered to consumers when buying small electronics can still be the one with the charger and cable included, so savings may depend on consumer awareness of the existence of alternatives.
Some products, such as laptops between 60 and 100W, have been unnecessarily excluded from the requirement for harmonised connectors.
In addition, although the proposal touches upon the need for interoperability of wireless charging, there is no intention now or in the future to define minimum requirements on wireless charging efficiency.
Lastly, the information provisions in the latest proposal are insufficiently elaborated. They may create confusion rather than clarify to consumers how to match their products with common power supply and cables.
Mathieu Rama, Programme Manager at ECOS – Environmental Coalition on Standards, said:
‘When looking at how to reduce material consumption and e-waste, standardising chargers and cables is a low-hanging fruit: we would produce less, reduce costs and benefit consumers. This proposal, if approved, will save us from thousands of tonnes of unnecessary waste. Although we do lament the long wait, soon, one charger to fit them all!”
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