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Yes but the parent is not stating that. They are stating that a "save the environment" effort is not very environmentally friendly if it makes more waste.

_Microft 5y ago
They are assuming that these devices would be used long enough for tin whiskers to become a problem. I seriously doubt that RoHS will be causing more waste - because at the point that devices become unusuable, they are on in the trash anyways for completely unrelated reasons (think: bezel to large to be popular, plastic backshell instead of metal or glass, device is too thick, device is too heavy, ...).
- hulitu 5y ago
  Tin whiskers continue to grow even after you device is in the landfill. You basically have a dust of tin which goes into landfil.
mmastrac 5y ago
Saving the environment by reducing actively, acutely hazardous materials and saving the environment via reducing landfill/carbon emissions are completely different goals. As others have pointed out in this thread, reducing landfill waste from electronics is a much more complex problem and just adding leaded solder will not solve it.
nomel 5y ago
That assumes waste reduction is the goal, rather than lead reduction. With toxic, intelligence reducing [1], materials like lead, maybe some extra waste is a perfectly good trade off. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30600539 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30600539
- hulitu 5y ago
  Last i checked tin was not an edible material. There is a small difference between having tin dust, which you cannot contain, and having electronics containing lead which you can colect and store in a warehouse ( asuming you want to address the problem in the first place).
  - cinntaile 5y ago
    Are you saying that electronics devices continuously let out tin dust so we end up breathing in this stuff?
stefan_ 5y ago
Uhm, that is exactly the point that I'm making? That the goal was never save the environment, but rather reduce the exposure to toxic-at-any-concentration things like lead? Hence why I quoted the program name.
Steltek 5y ago
Devices are disposed of (becomes waste) long before they become broken from whiskers. That makes RoHS a net-win by reducing toxic materials from landfills full of phones with broken screens and kitschy doodads with broken plastic.

_Microft 5y ago

They are assuming that these devices would be used long enough for tin whiskers to become a problem. I seriously doubt that RoHS will be causing more waste - because at the point that devices become unusuable, they are on in the trash anyways for completely unrelated reasons (think: bezel to large to be popular, plastic backshell instead of metal or glass, device is too thick, device is too heavy, ...).

hulitu 5y ago
Tin whiskers continue to grow even after you device is in the landfill. You basically have a dust of tin which goes into landfil.

mmastrac 5y ago

Saving the environment by reducing actively, acutely hazardous materials and saving the environment via reducing landfill/carbon emissions are completely different goals. As others have pointed out in this thread, reducing landfill waste from electronics is a much more complex problem and just adding leaded solder will not solve it.

nomel 5y ago

That assumes waste reduction is the goal, rather than lead reduction. With toxic, intelligence reducing [1], materials like lead, maybe some extra waste is a perfectly good trade off. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30600539 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30600539

hulitu 5y ago
Last i checked tin was not an edible material. There is a small difference between having tin dust, which you cannot contain, and having electronics containing lead which you can colect and store in a warehouse ( asuming you want to address the problem in the first place).
- cinntaile 5y ago
  Are you saying that electronics devices continuously let out tin dust so we end up breathing in this stuff?

stefan_ 5y ago

Uhm, that is exactly the point that I'm making? That the goal was never save the environment, but rather reduce the exposure to toxic-at-any-concentration things like lead? Hence why I quoted the program name.

Steltek 5y ago

Devices are disposed of (becomes waste) long before they become broken from whiskers. That makes RoHS a net-win by reducing toxic materials from landfills full of phones with broken screens and kitschy doodads with broken plastic.