Chile may soon become the first country in the Americas to implement an initiative mandating a universal charger for electronic devices.
The law has been ratified by the Chamber of Deputies – the lower house – after the Senate, or upper house, had given the go-ahead to legislation on the proposed initiative, with a few modifications.
The initiative establishes that, within two years, moblle phones must adapt to the use of the universal charger. The period will be four years for other electronic devices, such as tablets, cameras, hearing aids, speakers and portable video consoles. The new universal charger is, for now, to be USB-C, though there is, presumably, room to upgrade the legislation if more efficient technology becomes available.
The new regulations also establish that consumers will be able to acquire such products with charging devices or separately, with no obligations tying the purchase of one to another.
Debating the issue, a number of deputies focused on the environmental protection angle of the new law, which would reduce the amount of electronic waste. There was also a focus on the positive effects on family budgets of buying fewer chargers.
Similar legislation has been dicussed in the European Union, which, in 2022, said that all new devices must have a single charging system, with the focus, like that of the Chilean mandate, on USB-C models.
