Longer supply of security updates and spare parts, specifications for the service life of batteries and an energy label for assessing environmental friendliness – the European Union is planning strict rules for mobile devices from 2023.
This emerges from drafts that are available to the computer magazine c & apos; t. According to the documents, the EU is to plan an award on the basis of the well-known energy label, which was introduced in 1992 and since then has been continuously expanded to include new devices. This is to be extended to smartphones and tablets from 2023 and bring with it a series of strict rules.
Updates, new functions and spare parts
Manufacturers should provide free security updates for at least five years and free function updates for three years. In addition, the non-replaceable batteries of smartphones and tablets should be able to withstand at least 1,000 charging cycles; with exchangeable energy storage devices, this number falls to 500, but then the battery must still have 80 percent of its original capacity.
Manufacturers are also obliged to deliver spare parts such as batteries, cameras, microphones and other components to “professional repair shops” that they need over a period of five years. Displays occupy a special position here; these must also be made available to end customers. For manufacturers of tablets, the period increases to six years, as the EU Commission is of the opinion that this device class is used longer than smartphones. The prices demanded for the components must be kept transparent and thus publicly visible and, according to the will of the EU, should not be increased afterwards. Thought was also given to the associated repair instructions – these should be provided “at reasonable and proportionate fees”. In order to guarantee a long service life, the devices must also withstand 100 drops from a height of one meter without defects in a standardized test (IEC 60068-2-31) and also be protected against splash water.
The specifications are also followed by a series of transparency obligations, which include information on the quantities of “critical raw materials” such as cobalt or neodymium.
The current draft takes up many of the suggestions made by the associated materials Study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM), but differs significantly in some parts: In the study, a significantly shorter update requirement of two years was considered sufficient.
Energy label for assessing resources
It gets a little more complicated with the information on energy consumption. With the letters from A to G, this should be based on the classification known from household appliances. With smartphones and tablets, the efficiency is based on a certain endurance value, which is determined by dividing the battery life by the battery capacity in milliampere hours. In its draft, the responsible commission assumes that mobile devices with low energy consumption will be used for longer. This also leads to the conclusion that devices with low consumption also have to be charged less and that the battery will therefore have a longer service life. Longer use should accordingly mean fewer new purchases, which in turn can save resources and energy.
However, it is not known exactly how this value is to be determined. According to the report, the responsible commission is said to have commissioned the French company Smartviser with the development of a corresponding test procedure.
Further indications for the customer to be able to assess the efficiency of the device should be values such as the typical battery life measured on the basis of the endurance when making calls, surfing or playing videos, the number of charging cycles during which the energy storage device does not fall below 80 percent of its original capacity as well as the IP protection class with which the device is protected from dust and water. The information also includes a robustness value, with which we document how many falls the mobile device survived unscathed in a test, as well as information about the repairability of the device.
By combining durability, reparability and the energy label, the European Union promises to give consumers a tool with which they can easily identify particularly environmentally friendly models.
France is doing it before
France has shown that such a regulation can work: Since January 1, 2021, manufacturers have had to inform customers that their devices are easy to repair. Various aspects such as the work steps required to be able to change a battery, display or camera are included in the evaluation, as well as the availability and pricing of the required spare parts. Although the manufacturers determine the evaluation themselves based on defined criteria, false statements are to be punished from 2022.
Process should be completed in one year
The EU Commission is currently waiting for feedback from member states and associations. The former have to agree to the project, but the subsequent negotiations usually lead to only minor changes, if at all. The discussions should come to a conclusion in the second quarter of 2022, as they do not have to be incorporated into national law, the new rules apply immediately and throughout the EU. In addition, these should also apply to classic cell phones and cordless phones.