Europe wants to help clear out your drawer full of chargers.
Europe wants to help clear out your drawer full of chargers: All new smartphones, tablets, and laptops will be required to use a standard charger by 2026, according to a European Union rule.
By 2026, all new smartphones, tablets, and laptops will be required to use a standard charger, according to an agreement agreed by the European Union on Tuesday.
The strategy aims to alleviate the well-known customer annoyance of having a drawer full of chargers – some for Apple devices, others for portable speakers or handheld gaming systems. It entails an unusually high amount of government participation in product design decisions.
The measure, according to policymakers, will reduce electronic waste. Companies such as Apple, on the other hand, were opposed to the new regulation, claiming that it would stifle the development of new charging technology. A European standards organization will be in charge of reviewing future charging designs for all devices, according to the regulation.
According to the European Commission, all new mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, handheld video gaming devices, headphones, portable speakers, keyboards, mice, earbuds, and other portable devices will require USB-C charging connectors by 2024. Laptops will be covered under the law by 2026.
To limit the number of chargers in circulation, companies will be required to sell gadgets without a charger. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, claims that unused and abandoned chargers generate 11,000 tonnes of garbage each year.
“A single charger is a common sense for the myriad electronic gadgets we use on a daily basis,” said Thierry Breton, the European commissioner who assisted in the deal’s negotiation.
Any action taken by tech corporations to comply with the law could have far-reaching consequences. Many organizations implemented the General Data Protection Regulation, a privacy rule that went into force in 2018 after it was passed in Europe. Other countries frequently follow Europe’s lead in terms of technology regulation, potentially leading in comparable laws in other countries.
