No more useless device chargers?

A new environmentally friendly standard for universal laptop and device chargers has been approved by ITU.

With one million tons of external power supplies manufactured each year, the Recommendation ITU-T L.1002 “External universal power adapter solutions for portable ICT devices” standard is designed to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases. It is also expected to significantly reduce e-waste.

“e-Waste has grown into a significant challenge to environmental sustainability,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “The L.1000 series of standards will contribute to the achievement of the targets set out by Goal 12 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns.”

The standard specifies principles for the eco-design of laptop chargers to reduce no-load power consumption five times lower than the norm. When multiplied by the millions of such chargers in use, this will greatly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produced by these devices. The applicability of the charger to multiple devices, as well as design principles for the efficient use of raw materials, will greatly increase their lifetime and reduce the e-waste resulting from their disposal.

ITU-T L.1002 builds on ITU standards providing universal chargers for handheld devices such as mobile phones and stationary devices such as xDSL modems.

“The ITU-T L.1000 series of standards will assist in meeting the e-waste target of the Connect 2020 Agenda, a shared vision for the sustainable development of the ICT sector adopted by ITU member states in 2014,” said Ahmed Zeddam, chairman of ITU-T Study Group 5.

“This agenda includes the commitment of the ITU membership to reduce the volume of redundant e-waste by 50% by 2020.”

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