European Commission pushes for universal laptop charger to reduce e-waste

laptop chargerHow great would this be.

The International Electrotechnical Commission was the same body behind adopting a universal cell phone charger standard after deciding on Micro USB for all mobile devices (koffCawfAppleCOFF), and now they have their sights set on our laptop chargers. It’s the bane of the mobile warrior’s existence. Knowing that it’s pretty unlikely that anyone around you will have the same kind of laptop charger as you. It sparks my liberal guilt as those kinds of accessories can’t travel with you when you buy new hardware, so it’s very likely they’ll end up in a landfill.

The IEC estimates that adopting a universal charger would eliminate approximately half a million tons of e-waste per year. Yikes.

We have three laptops in house right now, and none use the same charger, so the cost and convenience of a standard would be terrific.

(Via ITProPortal)