Mark Lennihan, Associated Press

With an emphasis on sustainability and consumer budgets, the European Council has passed a new regulation requiring all smartphones to have replaceable batteries by 2027. The idea is not only to save on resources and reduce waste, it will also increase the useful life of phones. Consumers will be able to decide whether to replace a battery or buy a new phone, potentially saving buyers 1,000 euros or more.

It is unlikely U.S. legislators would pass an equivalent law, but phone manufacturers are likely to adapt all of their phones for a global market and that would mean we, as consumers, would benefit as well. Welcome to the right-to-repair movement.

This movement is growing. Proposed regulations across the electronics sector worldwide aim to make it easier and cheaper for consumers to fix their gadgets by requiring manufacturers to share repair information, provide diagnostic tools and supply service parts. In Europe, manufacturers are required to supply spare parts for up to 10 years. And here in the U.S., President Joe Biden issued an executive order in 2021 that resulted in a Federal Trade Commission crackdown on the unlawful blocking of third-party repair shops by Apple and others.

More recently, the EU passed a regulation that all smartphones must use a USB-C adapter, something it would begin enforcing next year. Apple, the lone holdout with its Lightning cables and ports, said it had no choice but to comply. Tech analysts expect that this fall’s new iPhone will feature USB-C, following the switch seen in iPads and Mac computers.

Right-to-repair laws could have an impact on pricing — either up or down. Researchers at the University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and the University of Singapore are investigating possible outcomes. They wrote in a Harvard Business Review article, “Will manufacturers follow a margin strategy and raise new product prices to capitalize on easier repair or will they follow a volume strategy and cut new product prices to lure consumers into replacing instead of repairing a glitchy product?”

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Their model predicted prices would go up if production costs were high and down if they were low as in the case of smartphones.

“Our model predicts that a right-to-repair bill will likely see manufacturers lower new product prices and flood the market. This reduces the appeal of repair because consumers would rather buy a brand-new product at a low price than fix a used product,” the researchers said. While that’s good news for consumers, it’s bad news for the environment because we would see an increase in e-waste as more people chose a new phone rather than bother with repair.

But a battery replacement could be a fairly hassle-free choice. If the battery is easily accessible and reasonably priced, that could be incentive enough for users to keep their phones a few more years. The EU regulation is very clear on this: Batteries must be “removable and replaceable by the end-user.” The new rule applies not only to smartphones but to all batteries including those for electric vehicles and e-bikes. The idea is the batteries will become recyclable and rebuilt for other products.

There are other requirements for phone manufacturers. By 2027, they will be expected to collect 63% of portable batteries that end up in landfills and 73% by 2030. Manufacturers will also be required to collect 50% of lithium from these batteries by 2027 and 80% by 2032. Batteries will also have to contain a minimum quantity of recycled materials. Finally, batteries must not contain “conflict minerals” which are sourced from war zones where they’re cheaper. Apple and others already comply with this requirement.

A possible downside to these sustainability requirements is the end of cheap Android phones. Compliance may price these manufacturers out of the market. While this may not affect too many of us here, it would have a profound effect in developing nations where a smartphone is essential for communication and not viewed as an easily replaceable device when the next shiny thing hits the market. Sustainability has a cost, and we must make sure that everyone benefits and no one is left behind.

Leslie Meredith has been writing about technology for more than a decade. As a mom of four, value, usefulness and online safety take priority. Have a question? Email Leslie at asklesliemeredith@gmail.com.

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