4 ms·

> It's high time the EU forces companies to design their hardware in a way that allows the user (or a recycling company!) to replace the batteries inside withou

> It's high time the EU forces companies to design their hardware in a way that allows the user (or a recycling company!) to replace the batteries inside without destroying it in the process Why? The battery pack is external. I have not ever seen a requirement that battery packs themselves need to be repairable. Not many devices come with external batteries these days, but do you really want to open them up to replace the cells? Where are you going to source reputable prismatic cells to use with such a device? They are also pretty delicate, you don't want most people handling them. If it used standard 18650 cells I could kind of see the point, but it would be much larger. A recycling company can destructively open it up to recover the material. A better 'mandate' would be to require it to accept third party power supplies. > for fucks sake what happened to the USB-C requirement for electronic devices USB-C would suck for this application. It already does for headsets like Meta's Quest, where you can use a link cable to a PC. You need to secure any USB-C cables pretty well if you don't want to risk damaging the port.

mschuster91 3y ago
> I have not ever seen a requirement that battery packs themselves need to be repairable. Indeed it is, but it would make the life of recyclers way easier. Having to use a hammer and pin to open it risks puncturing the pouches. > Not many devices come with external batteries these days, but do you really want to open them up to replace the cells? Uhhh... yes? That was the state of the art for decades before removable batteries were sacrificed for optics. You can even do watertight devices that way, Samsung's Active Tab 3 is watertight and supports swapping batteries. > Where are you going to source reputable prismatic cells to use with such a device? The aftermarket supply chain for devices has gotten pretty well in serving that market, although I'd also love some standardization effort in that space.
- mac-mc 3y ago
  From what I've seen recyclers push ewaste including batteries through a grinder and then extract from the sludge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2xrarUWVRQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2xrarUWVRQ

mschuster91 3y ago

> I have not ever seen a requirement that battery packs themselves need to be repairable. Indeed it is, but it would make the life of recyclers way easier. Having to use a hammer and pin to open it risks puncturing the pouches. > Not many devices come with external batteries these days, but do you really want to open them up to replace the cells? Uhhh... yes? That was the state of the art for decades before removable batteries were sacrificed for optics. You can even do watertight devices that way, Samsung's Active Tab 3 is watertight and supports swapping batteries. > Where are you going to source reputable prismatic cells to use with such a device? The aftermarket supply chain for devices has gotten pretty well in serving that market, although I'd also love some standardization effort in that space.

mac-mc 3y ago
From what I've seen recyclers push ewaste including batteries through a grinder and then extract from the sludge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2xrarUWVRQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2xrarUWVRQ