Set-top boxes (TV decoders)
As TV channels are switching to digital broadcast, most European households need to buy a set top box (TV decoder) to continue watching programs with their existing set. Dozens of millions of these devices are being be sold, but will be disposed of when digital TV sets become mainstream. This will add 15 TWh of electricity consumption in the EU (as much as the residential consumption of Austria), and also create huge quantities of electronic scrap.
What does the coolproducts campaign want?
• A very quick and strict limitation of the energy consumption of these devices (as the product sales will explode and then die in a few years, only top of the market products should be allowed right now).
• A mandatory auto-power down function to switch off the device when not in use.
• Some rules to limit the electronic scrap and make sure these devices are properly recyclable.
What’s the European Union doing and what’s our position?
An Ecodesign regulation on simple set top boxes has been adopted in Feb. 2009. It introduces power limits, but starting only as late as Feb. 2010 (thus missing millions of units already sold) and not up to the best of the market. It is however supposed to cut electricity waste by 65%, which is better than nothing. An auto-power down function needs to be installed on all boxes and set by default (but only after 3 hours of no user interaction, and the user can still disable it). Absolutely no provision has been planned for improving recyclability and collection of end-of-life boxes.
On top of that, more complex set top boxes (for instance including advanced functions like pay-TV or internet connection) will not be covered by a regulation, but only by a voluntary commitment from the industry. This is worrying as probably more and more box models will fall into this ‘complex’ category.
Further reading:
-The industry's proposed voluntary self-regulation
-Our comments on voluntary agreements
-Find out more about the EU process on our expert pages.