You may remember that in 2022 the EU passed a law on a common charging cable which firms must adopt by December of this year. This law aims to cut electronic waste by requiring small to medium electronic device manufacturers to use USB-C chargers as opposed to lightning ones.
Interestingly, although Apple first criticised this decision, it did stop its lightning chargers and switch to USB-C chargers and all models since 2023.
The UK currently does not have a specific regulation mandating a universal charging standard for electronic devices but when a Recycle Your Electricals campaign suggested the UK had more than 600 million unused or discarded cables, so why wouldn’t we look at cutting this wastage that ultimately ends up in landfill?
The Spectator reports:
“As it is, Britain is in the best of two worlds. No phone manufacturer is going to design a uniquely British charging cable purely for the sake of it. Why would they want to? Most phones sold in the UK are going to adopt the EU standard whether or not they are obliged to because it makes business sense. Even if you wanted to distinguish your product from a rival’s by employing a different standard, you are unlikely to want to manufacture two versions yourself, each to be sold on opposite sides of the Channel.
On the other hand, refusing to adopt the EU standard on electrical and electronic goods means that if there is a very good reason to experiment with a new, improved design. Britain could become the test bed. We can become an island of innovation, where future equivalents where future equivalents of DVDs, flash drives and so on can be developed before they are allowed to be sold in a floppy disk EU.”
Source: The Spectator
So, although our UK government may not need to follow the EU with legislation when standardisation could happen anyway, the good news is – less time trying to find the right charger for all your different devices and less wastage and electronics in landfill in years going forward.