Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, December 21 (Xinhua) after forcing all smartphones, tablets and laptops to use USB Type-C charging ports, the European Union (EU) has now agreed on new laws and regulations aimed at making batteries more sustainable and reusable. The new regulation will pose a series of new challenges for consumer technology companies and battery manufacturers, as the new law covers the entire battery life cycle, including material extraction, industrial production and disposal.

The new EU law will apply to all types of batteries sold in the EU, including those used in electronic equipment, industrial batteries, car batteries, and batteries used in two-wheeled vehicles and electric vehicles (EV). From the beginning of 2024, EU battery manufacturers will have to report the total carbon footprint of their products, from mining to recycling.

The data will then be used to set the maximum carbon dioxide limit for batteries, which will take effect as early as July 2027. They will need to use a certain proportion of recycled materials, that is, 16% cobalt, 85% lead, 6% lithium and 6% nickel.

CTOnews.com learned that the new regulations also require consumer technology brands to make their batteries easy to replace when designing their devices, either by allowing the battery cover to be removed or using screws that can be removed easily, which may mean that removable batteries will return to smartphones, making electronic devices more sustainable and improving their life, but will also reduce the company's profit margins in repairing and maintaining the equipment.

If approved, the new rules will ensure that batteries sold in the EU region are more sustainable globally, eventually setting a standard for the rest of the world. These rules not only assess the carbon footprint, but companies involved in the battery manufacturing process in the EU also need to identify, prevent and address human rights and labour issues in their supply chains.

The EU has implemented the new law only for key raw materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite. In addition, the EU has set an ambitious recycling target to collect 45 per cent of recyclable materials from electronic devices by 2023 and 73 per cent by 2030. In addition, in the case of electric vehicles, the goal is to collect 100% of recyclable materials.

The new EU battery regulations, which are awaiting final approval from Parliament and the Council, will certainly pose serious challenges for consumer electronics companies such as Apple, Google and Samsung, as they need to rethink their device designs. Battery manufacturers such as Panasonic and Samsung SDI will also be affected, and all companies dealing with batteries need to start preparing for new laws to review their supply chains and operations. At the same time, we have reached a cooperation plan with recyclers.

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