United Nations Approves MicroUSB Universal Phone Charger Standard

[javajolt]

The International Telecommunication Union, a branch of the UN, has decided on a standard for phone chargers that should finally cut down on a huge chunk of unnecessary e-waste. It's about time.

It looks like the Universal Charging Solution (UCS) has some pretty broad support, from handset manufacturers like LG, Motorola and Samsung to carriers including AT&T and T-Mobile. No word on whether the standard will match the one the GSM Association has been working on, but they're both rallying around MicroUSB, so we'll call it likely for now.

What's sad to me is that, according to the source, this standard could save 51,000 tons of waste if it were in place today. Considering all phone chargers do exactly the same thing, it's pretty ridiculous there wasn't a standard in place before.

Participating carriers and handset makers should fully adopt the UCS by 2012. Hopefully America hops on board before then.

[javajolt]

Republicans, Democrats, Europeans, Americans, Theists, Atheists, Circus Clowns, and small children can all agree on one thing; waste is bad. One of the most needlessly wasteful by-products of our modern existence is, wait for it, the cell phone charger. Think about it; every time you get a new cell phone, you get a new charger. Many of them aren't compatible and most cell chargers get thrown away when you stop using the phone.

Gizmodo states that we could reduce our waste by 51,000 tons a year if we were to switch to a universal charging standard. That's what they're doing over in Europe (Reuters) and all of the major manufacturers seem to be on board. If everyone uses the same charger, new phones don't need to come with new chargers. That's money saved for manufacturers, and for the carriers who have to ship all of that extra charger weight to their customers.

A universal charging solution benefits everyone, which is why the United Nation's International Telecommunication Union (the ITU) has gotten involved in selecting one. They recently gave their approval to an "energy efficient one-charger-fits-all" mobile charging solution. This solution is thought to be based around the microUSB charger, which is the same device the GSM Association has been looking at.

The EU is already on board for this continent-wide standardization, and the ITU hopes for full adoption of the uniform charger by carriers and manufacturers by 2012. The US hasn't signed onto the plan yet, but we really should. This makes economic and environmental sense, there is no good reason not to do it.