The universal charger for electronic devices will soon become a reality in Europe thanks to the final approval of the directive by the European Parliament
European consumers have been waiting for over ten years for a standard that cleans up all the various formats of charger dedicated to electronic devices. They wanted to choose only one, practical, economical and also sustainable and beneficial for the environment .
Having a single type of charger, in fact, will no longer oblige you to get rid of the old one because you change your phone or tablet, but to be able to use the same tool to recharge on multiple devices.
It is estimated that greater reuse of chargers will help consumers save up to € 250 million per year on unnecessary charger purchases.
Disposed and unused chargers represent approximately 11,000 tonnes of all e-waste per year in the EU.
With the approval by the European Parliament of the directive establishing the universal charger, in fact, EU consumers will soon be able to use a single charging solution for their electronic devices.
But before we see when it will be available, how it will work and how we will buy it, let’s take a small step back, to understand and appreciate the effort made by the European legislator to arrive at today’s result,
How we got to the universal charger
For almost a decade, the European Parliament has repeatedly called for the introduction of a common, universal charger for electronic devices. In 2014, in the context of the negotiations on the Radio Equipment Directive, Parliament had strongly supported the need to have a charger common to all mobile phones
But despite attempts to collaborate with the industry to reduce the number of mobile chargers, and thus electronic waste and inconvenience to consumers, no definitive results have been produced.
With other Parliament initiatives they have called for the standardization of mobile phone chargers, as in the case of a resolution of January 2020, which called on the European Commission to urgently introduce a standard for a common charger.
And in February 2021, in the context of the new circular economy action plan, the European Parliament asked the Commission to urgently introduce a universal charger for smartphones and similar devices to ensure charging options standardized, compatible and interoperable and asked the Commission to prepare a decoupling strategy for shippers and harmonized labeling.
A legislative proposal was therefore formalized by the European Commission just over a year ago, to revise the Directive on radio equipment 23 September 2021.
The law, approved by the European Parliament on the 4th October 2022 with 602 votes in favor, 13 against and 8 abstentions, must therefore be included in the broader, general EU effort to reduce electronic waste and allow consumers to make more sustainable choices.
Now the Council will have to formally approve the directive before it is published in the Official Journal of the EU. The law will then go into effect 20 days after publication.
After that Member States will have twelve months to transpose the rules and another twelve months after the end of the transposition period to apply.
The new rules will not apply to products placed on the market before the date of application.
When USB-C universal charger becomes available
By the end of 2024, all mobile phones, tablets and cameras sold in the European Union will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C charging port.
The USB Type-C port will therefore be the new standard for portable devices, offering high-quality charging and data transfer
As wireless charging becomes more widespread, the European Commission will need to harmonize interoperability requirements by the end of 2024 to avoid having a negative impact on consumers and the environment.
This way of acting will also eliminate the so-called technological "lock-in effect", that is whereby a consumer becomes dependent on the supply of a single producer.
From the spring of 2026 the obligation will also extend to laptop.
Under the new rules, consumers will therefore no longer need a different charger every time they purchase a new device, as they will be able to use one charger for a whole range of small and medium sized portable electronic devices.
How we will buy the universal charger
All new phones, mobile phones (smartphones), tablet, cameras digital, headphones and headsets, video game portable consoles and speakers portable, e-reader, keyboards, mouses, portable navigation systems, earphones and laptops, operating with a power output up to 100 Watt must be equipped with a USB Type-C port, regardless of the manufacturer that makes them.
Buyers will be able to choose whether to buy a new device with or without charging accessory.
All devices that support fast charging will now have same charging speed, meaning they will allow users to charge their devices at the same speed with any compatible charger.
Dedicated Labels will inform consumers about the charging features of new devices, making it easier for them to see if their existing chargers are compatible.
