When you last purchased an electronic device such as a mobile phone, tablet, or laptop, did you read the printed compliance information that came with it? If not, welcome to the club: most consumers simply discard printed compliance information while unpacking the device.
Manufacturers and campaigners have been urging European lawmakers to shift from printed to digitally presented compliance information. One key body campaigning for change is the Mobile & Wireless Forum (MWF) who launched the E-Labelling Initiative to support digital labelling of electronic goods in the EU.
“There are strong arguments for change, essentially as the current system is an out-of-date paper-based model in a digital world”, Michael Milligan, Secretary General at MWF told The Parliament Magazine.
The sheer volume of electronic device sales means that the inclusion of even a single piece of paper (and there are often more than one) with electronic goods has a significant environmental impact.
About 190 million smartphones were sold in Europe last year. Each of those had to come with printed compliance information – although consumers throw away this information almost immediately.
Yet displaying this information digitally within a device is more accessible, stays with the device for its entire lifespan, and does not have the environmental cost of the current approach.
The MWF estimates that producing the paper for printed compliance information for smartphones sold in the European Union accounts for more than 4,800 trees each year and some 480 million litres of water. Add the CO2 emissions from transportation and multiply that by all the other electronic devices that face the same requirements—and it’s an enormous environmental cost for little gain, especially when electronic labelling is already accepted in other markets such as the US, China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
This is not just an environmental issue. There are problems for consumers, too. Information may not be in a format or language that they understand, cannot be updated in accordance with changing regulations, can be easily misplaced, and will not be passed on if the goods are resold. If digital information were the rule, more than
100 million European consumers with various disabilities would also benefit from features such as adjustable font size and contrast or having the device read out the information to them.
European lawmakers have already supported e-labelling in other sectors, such as marine and chemicals. Thus, the exception for electronic devices is hard to justify.
E-labelling moves us forward on the environment, accessibility, and digitization – all important goals of the EU. “The arguments for introducing e-labelling within the EU are compelling,” Milligan tells us. “In terms of sensible, practical and impactful policy changes, this would seem to be one of the easiest wins for all concerned.”
Mobile & Wireless Forum is an international association of companies with an interest in mobile and wireless communications, including the evolution to 5G and the Internet of Things. www.mwfai.org