EU reaches deal on common charger – finally a charger to fit them all!

EU institutions have reached an agreement on harmonizing charging ports and interoperability of fast charging technology for a wide range of small ICT products, including mobile phones, laptops and tablets. By autumn 2024, USB Type-C will become the common charging port for all products in the scope of the amended Radio Equipment Directive. Laptops will have a common charger too, but only 40 months after the entry into force of the Directive.

Parliament and Council negotiators agreed today (7 June) on a provisional text for an amended Radio Equipment Directive. It will establish a common charger for mobile phones, tablets, and other small ICT devices. The text will make USB Type-C connectors mandatory for all these products. This is very good news for consumers and the environment. Smartphone chargers alone generate some 11,000 to 13,000 tonnes of e-waste each year in the EU [2]. If we add chargers for other portable products such as laptop computers, this number triples.

Today’s agreement will help decrease the volume of charger e-waste. The amended Directive will also promote interoperability of fast charging functionality. The proposal will require retailers to offer product options without charging devices included, enabling consumers to avoid the inconvenience and cost of unnecessary parts, as well as reduce the material impacts of their purchases.

Today’s agreement also empowers the Commission to adopt further rules regarding wireless charging through delegated acts. Unfortunately, today’s text does not go as far as ECOS would have wished. Producers will be free to offer by default a version of the product in a bundle with the charger, or a version without the charger. This means that savings may depend on consumer awareness of the existence of charger-free alternatives. In addition, laptops will only need to comply with the common charger 40 months after the entry into force of the law. This is an unjustifiable delay as this measure could have brought about further savings in terms of resources and costs.

Mathieu Rama, programme manager at ECOS – Environmental Coalition on Standards, said:  ‘When looking at how to reduce material consumption and e-waste, standardising chargers and cables is a low-hanging fruit: we would produce less, reduce costs and benefit consumers. A common charger will save thousands of tonnes of unnecessary waste. The wait has been long, and we regret the unnecessary delay applied to laptops, but, finally, one charger will fit them all!’

European Parliament – Deal on common charger: reducing hassle for consumers and curbing e-waste

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