EU Regulations: Making Smartphones and Tablets More Sustainable

The EU has taken a major step towards making smartphones, tablets and cordless phones more sustainable and circular with the publication of two new regulations on 31 Aug. 2023.

The Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2023/1670 and the Energy Label Regulation (EU) 2023/1669 set mandatory requirements for the design, performance and information provision of these products. The regulations will apply from 20 June 2025.

The new regulations have adopted some of the Ecodesign Sustainability Product Regulation (ESPR) idea, which aims to improve the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle. The ESPR covers aspects such as durability, reparability, upgradability, recyclability and recycled content of products. This Ecodesign Regulation sets requirements for smartphones, mobile phones other than smartphones, cordless phones and slate tablets on:

• Design for repair and reuse
• Design for reliability
• Recyclability
• Substance control
• Availability of documentation
• Battery performance

The Energy Label Regulation requires these products to display an energy label that shows their energy efficiency class (from A to G) and other information, such as battery performance, reliability, and repairability.

Free self-assessment for the new Ecodesign requirements

To help make sense of the new Ecodesign requirements for mobile phones, tablets and cordless phone, Nemko has developed a  self-assessment. It takes around 5 minutes to complete and will give you a score and some customized tips based on your response. 

Enter our Product sustainability corner to access the free self-assessment

or

Contact Nemko for more information.