European Parliament votes for law making replaceable batteries mandatory

The European Parliament has voted in favor of a law to regulate the composition of accumulators and batteries. An important part of that law is also that consumers must be able to easily remove and replace batteries from their devices.

The European Parliament voted yes 587 votes in favor of the proposal. Nine members of parliament voted against, twenty abstained from voting. The new law imposes rules on how batteries are assembled. For example, the law requires that batteries in electric cars must receive an energy label as standard and that batteries can be recycled for minimum quantities of raw materials. The aim of the law is to reduce the amount of waste from batteries, but also from old devices where nothing other than the battery is broken.

The most striking change in the law, however, is that all batteries must be easily repairable by consumers. These are batteries in consumer electronics such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. Parliament sets specific requirements for this. For example, batteries may not be glued and consumers must be able to replace them without tools.

The law applies to devices sold in the EU. In practice, this means that almost all major electronics manufacturers have to adapt their devices accordingly. Currently, almost all smartphone makers use glue to attach the backs of phones. There will be a transition period. This will last until early 2027, only then will the law come into effect. Moreover, it is possible that manufacturers ask for a postponement because they think they need more time. The law also still needs to be approved by the member states.