It is reported that the new EU "removable battery" regulations do not apply to all mobile phones equipped with high-quality batteries and can be exempted.

According to news on July 17, the European Parliament passed a new regulation last month requiring batteries in all household appliances and consumer electronics (including mobile phones, game consoles, etc.) to be "easily removable and replaceable" by consumers. It officially comes into effect in 2017. Just when everyone thought that removable batteries were expected to return to mobile phone products, foreign media winfuture poured cold water on it.

▲ Apple iPhone14/14 Plus

According to reports, the new EU regulations do not apply to all mobile phones because they contain some exemptions. For example, if the battery quality is high, manufacturers can still use a non-removable design, which requires that the mobile phone battery must still provide at least 83% of the original capacity after 500 full charge cycles, and 80% of the original capacity after 1,000 cycles. .

▲ Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4

It is worth mentioning that waterproof equipment does not apply to this regulation, because the detachable design greatly increases the difficulty of waterproofing the product. Most flagship phones currently on the market are equipped with a certain degree of waterproofing, including folding screen phones such as Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4.

Due to too many exemption clauses, overseas netizens are not optimistic about the introduction of this new regulation. Some netizens bluntly said that the new EU regulations will not change the status quo of mobile phone products.

IT Home attaches the core requirements of the new EU bill:

Electric vehicle batteries, light vehicle batteries (LMT) and rechargeable industrial batteries with a capacity of more than 2kWh must carry a carbon footprint statement and label;

Electric vehicle batteries, light vehicle batteries and rechargeable industrial batteries with a capacity exceeding 2kWh must carry a digital battery passport;

Home appliances and consumer electronics need to use portable batteries that consumers can easily remove and replace;

Stricter waste collection targets: for portable batteries, recycling rates of 45% by 2023, 63% in 2027, and 73% in 2030; for LMT batteries, recycling rates of 51% by 2028, 61% in 2031 %;

Minimum levels of material recovery from spent batteries: 50% in 2027 and 80% in 2031 for lithium; 90% in 2027 and 95% in 2031 for cobalt, copper, lead and nickel;

Minimum levels of recycled content for waste used in the manufacture of new batteries: 16% cobalt, 85% lead, 6% lithium, 6% nickel eight years after the regulation comes into effect; 26% cobalt, 85% lead, 12 lithium 13 years after the regulation comes into force %, nickel 15%.