Removing the charger was not a whim of Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi: the EU was already contemplating removing them

After the arrival of the iPhone 12 in Spain there has been controversy over the withdrawal of the charger that until now had been included in the box, a decision that Xiaomi has followed with the Mi 11 (with two versions in its native country) and the Galaxy S21 that were recently presented .

The justification for these companies was the environment, a decision that has caused much criticism and doubts if we consider that a longer update policy could have a more positive impact, but even so it seems that it is a proposal that has been internally for some time. the European Union.

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Remove the charger was already on the table before Apple removed it from the iPhone 12

The act of eliminating chargers from mobile boxes is a measure that has always been there to reduce costs (for example, with the original Motorola Moto G) but that Apple has recently decided to do with its latest mobiles. As in every controversial move by Apple, companies like Samsung or Xiaomi made fun of it and shortly after follow the same path.

According

to a study by the European Union as of December 2019, it is estimated that chargers would produce up to 13,300 tonnes of electronic waste per year between 2020 and 2028. To this end, the EU is working on a circular economy plan that avoids all this volume of waste, and according to leaked documents, they would be thinking of several measures to avoid it

Among the measures thought would be an incentive plan that invites manufacturers to start selling their devices without a charger included, with the aim that we use the chargers that we already have at home. Although there will continue to be a market for new chargers, the mere fact of buying chargers that we need already implies that each charger that is manufactured is a charger that will be used.

The regulation on wireless charging would also be on the table

In the leaked document they also talk about wireless chargers, which are increasingly present in high-end mobiles. Currently all these models use the Qi standard, although from the EU they fear that various wireless charging standards will begin to be implemented.

Although today the industry is aligned in using the Qi standard, the EU wants to create regulations that avoid energy waste, since this charge consumes more energy and can degrade batteries faster, something they do not want to let it continue to grow.

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