New EU legislation might bring user-replaceable batteries back

Looks like the European Union is on fire. First it mandated USB-C on devices, then it forced smartphone manufacturers to open their devices to third-party app stores, and now it has reached a provisional agreement mandating user-replaceable batteries for portable devices.

If this bill passes, manufacturers would have three and a half years to redesign their portable gadgets so that customers can simply remove and replace their batteries.

Smartphones with user-replaceable batteries were once the standard, but they are now exceedingly rare because every brand starting making iPhone-like unibody designs.

This accord was primarily motivated by environmental considerations. The proposal establishes minimum recycling rates for battery components as follows: 16 percent for cobalt, 85 percent for lead, 6 percent for lithium, and 6 percent for nickel.

To fuel the recycling process, the EU will require the collection of old batteries: at least 45 percent of old batteries must be collected by 2023, 63 percent by 2027, and 73 percent by 2030 for portable batteries.

Also watch: Best smartphones of 2022: Do you agree?