If you’re anything like me, somewhere in your office or home is a draw full of leads and chargers. What they’re all for, you probably have no idea because they are an accumulation of tech paraphernalia that you’ve amassed over the years.
How did there get to be so many?
Well, every laptop or other techy device you’ve owned has come with its own charger. None are interchangeable, so you end up with the draw full of useless wires mentioned above.
Surely it would make sense for someone to have the bright idea to create a universal laptop charger that can be used across the board?
Well, according to an article in PCPro, the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) has realised that billions of external chargers are shipped globally. The vast majority of these can only be used on specific laptops rather than across a range of models, leading to getting in for half a million tons of waste every year.
In response they have developed a standard laptop charger to help cut this waste. The IEC published a similar proposals for mobile phone chargers in 2011, to which most phones shipped in the EU now confirm.
Frans Vreeswijk, IEC General Secretary and CEO said: “The IEC International Standard for the universal charger for mobile phones has been widely adopted by the mobile phone industry and is already starting to help reduce e-waste. A single power supply covering a wide range of notebook computers is the next step in lowering e-waste and its impact on our planet.”
There is no news as yet regarding how long it might take to get manufacturers on board, but the IEC did confirm that it was already working with a wide range of organisations.
MPM Computer Consultancy 