EU Wants Smartphones, Tablets to Be Repairable for at Least 5 Years
The European Commission is advocating new rules for mobile phone and tablet repairability.
Draft proposals published this week(Opens in a new window) would require manufacturers to make at least 15 components available to professional repairers for up to five years after releasing a new phone in the European Union (EU). That means customers would get guaranteed access to replacement batteries, back covers, front- and rear-facing cameras, audio connectors, charging ports, microphones and speakers, SIM and memory card trays, and more.
Extending the life cycle of a smartphone or tablet by just five years is roughly equivalent to removing 5 million cars from the road, according to the Financial Times(Opens in a new window). That's a tough ask for consumers, though, when electronics makers are releasing newer, shinier handsets each year.
"The steep increase in the demand for smartphones and tablets, combined [with] their increased functionality, has resulted in increased demand for energy and materials needed to manufacture these devices on the EU market, accompanied by an increase in their associated environmental impacts," Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen wrote in the proposal. "In addition, devices are often replaced prematurely by users and are, at the end of their useful life, not sufficiently reused or recycled, leading to a waste of resources."
If adopted, the initiative would also usher in a new energy label for phones and tablets—similar to the ones already in place across Europe for TVs and large household items. The labels would indicate an expected battery life, and include details on water and dust protection, and rate the device's resistance to drops and scratches.
Those manufacturers, meanwhile, that
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