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by bradgessler 1160 days ago
I'm surprised the EU hasn't legislated something for this—seems like their cup of tea.
2 comments
tpmx 1160 days ago
The Brussels EU big-wigs very likely don't use cordless power tools personally (unlike mobile phone chargers), so it will probably take a few more years until it reaches their radars. And then it's 50/50 if they'll do something smart or stupid about it. They will do something, though.

Edit: There's also the financial interests of german companies like Festool, Bosch, Metabo, Stihl, Einhell. Imagine if they were forced to use a common battery format so that anyone could build a battery for their tools?

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JohnCClarke 1160 days ago
Had a quick look at the relative numbers.

The original, 2014, directive aimed to eliminate 51,000 tones of e-waste annually [1]. That works out to about 0.11kg per-person annually.

Currently the average EU citizen disposes of 0.74kg of "electrical tools and medical devices" annually.

So you are correct that power tools and medical devices are a much bigger source of waste.

If you are lucky enough to have an MEP represent you, do ask them why they are not addressing this also.

[1] https://interferencetechnology.com/eu-radio-equipment-direct... [2] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/202...

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pvarangot 1160 days ago
They don't want to deal with up to three companies being liable if a battery explodes or catches fire. It's not easy to legislate. EV charging is already challenging enough.
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