Why is it difficult to replace a battery?

Welded or glued battery casings for instance make it impossible to access the faulty part while software locks, in particular for e-bikes, prevent refurbishment by independent repairers and shortages of spares and tools make it impossible to repair or replace batteries. What are the main barriers to battery replacement?

Can batteries be replaced?

New research shows that most batteries in today’s products cannot be easily removed, replaced or repaired, resulting in shorter device lifetimes, a loss of rare and valuable materials and billions in unnecessary consumer expenditure, writes Chloé Mikolajczak.

Should new phones and tablets be able to replace batteries?

Meanwhile, ensuring that all new phones and tablets sold in the EU in 2030 have easily removable and replaceable batteries could cut the annual emissions of these devices by 30% compared to business as usual, reduce the loss of critical raw materials like cobalt and indium, and save European consumers €19.8 billion.

Should batteries be repurposed?

Consumers need to be taught to hold responsibility for the waste they generate. Once again, supporting policies are required to ensure that the public is encouraged to recycle or recover the degraded batteries. Exciting policies have been in place for other merchandise.

Why is battery recycling so difficult?

However, the daily operation of batteries also contributes to such emission, which is largely disregarded by both the vendor as well as the public. Besides, recycling and recovering the degraded batteries have proved to be difficult, mostly due to logistical issues, lack of supporting policies, and low ROI.

Are non-replaceable batteries bad for the environment?

Non-replaceable batteries are bad news for the environment and consumers, new research finds Chloé is a campaigner at Right to Repair Europe, a coalition of more than 80 organisations from 18 European countries fighting for longer-lasting and more repairable products.