[Opinión] The only charger in Europe it is a victory of common sense. Not only will this save consumers hundreds of millions of euros, but by extending it to laptops and the most common mobile electronic devices, it will improve the usability of the whole ecosystem and reduce the very serious problem of e-waste.

We waited for it for almost ten years and it finally came. After verifying that the “recommendations” did not have the desired effect, the European Union had to take “more drastic” measures in the form of legislation requiring all manufacturers to use a single C-type USB charger in Europe. , but it was a measure that had to be taken without further delay.

Apple and a unique charger in Europe

Apple is at the heart of editorials written on the subject for its resilience to the use of standardized charging and data connectors on its iPhones and some iPads. Needless to say, this is not the only manufacturer that uses proprietary connectors. Microsoft uses Surface Connect, a completely unnecessary one that should also go for a better life.

Apple’s commitment to the proprietary Lightning connector is commercial and not technical How did the company try to sell us? USB-C is an advanced port, has a lot of features in charging power and data transfer, is becoming more widespread and its cabling is cheap and easy to buy and use.

Don’t make mistakes. Simply put, Apple has a huge side business around Lightning. You can count more than a billion iPhones sold since 2012, when this port was released and related to it, it has chargers, cabling, dongles and accessories for sale that add revenue you don’t want to lose. The story is over … If Apple wants to sell cell phones in the European Union, it will have to comply with the legislationbut what strategy will follow?

The most direct action would be replace Lightning with USB type C, even if it means reworking part of the terminals. It shouldn’t cost a company like Apple too much (except for the aforementioned loss of income) and in fact it was already preparing for it. USB already uses MacBooks on its laptops, most iPads, and is rumored to be testing USB Type C on the iPhone to make the 2023 transition.

The second strategy is more radical and would mean directly disable any charging port and bet on wireless charging. Don’t underestimate this with Apple’s obsession with design and minimalism and the fact that all modern iPhones support wireless charging. Clarify in this sense that single charger legislation should also (subsequently) address the complicated situation of wireless charging, especially due to the diversity of existing protocols.

Summary. Although a spokesman for the European Union has made it clear in the announcement that the measure is not directed against Apple and that it will affect all brands whose products fall under the Radio Equipment Directive, which is about to be updated, most of them are Cupertino. affected, as the only large one in the mobile sector uses a proprietary connector. The changes will be mandatory if it wants to remain in a market of 500 million consumers.

Costs… and the environment

The USB Type C standardization as the only charger in Europe does not only apply to mobile phones, but also to tablets, electronic readers, headphones, digital cameras, headphones, consoles, speakers, laptops and all mobile devices with batteries in general.

In addition to reducing costs and improving usage by being able to charge any of them with the same charger, this is great news for the environment. An official UN report from 2014 described the problem of e-waste as “unprecedented tsunami” calculating that e-waste and its processing cost the global economy an incredible $ 52,000 million and collected 42 million tons of existing waste.

And they piled up. In 2018, the world produced more than 50 million tons of electronic waste. To put it bluntly, it would be equivalent to throwing 125,000 jumbo jets or 4,500 Eiffel Towers and enough to cover the entire Manhattan island with garbage. If no action is taken, the UN estimates that waste will more than double by 2050 120 million tons per year.

We must add to them that the electronic waste of the present is not just what we use today, but there are still many products from the past that have not been processed. There are millions of cathode ray tubes from old TVs and monitors, VHS tapes and DVD players that contain toxic compounds such as lead, cadmium and mercury, which makes them dangerous and problematic.

A lesson that should serve us for new products. Also, the fight against mafias, as it is estimated that 90 percent of the waste market is illegal and millions of tonnes of e-waste are falsely declared as second-hand products and exported from developed countries to the Third World. To say that the planet is losing a considerable amount of resourcessuch as rare earth metals, copper, gold, coltan … Coherence of legislation, stricter preventive measures and strengthening of regulations are introduced, which deprive criminals (white collars and others) of millionaires who make money from e-waste and health and the endangered environment.

Close by insisting that the current economic system is a threat to the planet if we are not able to move in all senses to responsible consumption. And electronics manufacturers have a lot to contribute in addition to complying with legislation by using recycled materials, abandoning a planned obsolescence strategy and allowing the right of repair to reduce disposable products, address “premature obsolescence” and ban the destruction of unsold durable goods to make sustainable products norm.

Everything is connected and the only charger in Europe is a good start. A small victory for common sense that we hope will extend to other areas of technology that also need more standardization.