You may not have to suffer through proprietary charging connectors on cell phones much longer. We’ve been hearing rumblings for a few months now that the industry may settle on the humble micro-USB as a standard for charging. A UN body, The International Telecommunications Union (ITU), has now approved the proposal.

One of the main reasons for making this move is the fact that 51,000 tons of unnecessary chargers are produced each year. If there was a single standard, consumers could take a charger with them from phone to phone. No word yet on how Apple would deal with this. Their proprietary dock connector has a rich ecosystem of accessories that would be hard to leave behind. Bundling an adapter maybe?

Malcolm Johnson, director of ITU Standards Bureau, said in a statement, “This is a significant step in reducing the environmental impact of mobile charging.” It will not be required for phone makers to adopt the new standard, but some have already signed on.