Ivan,
In your list of improvements to the world you left out the most
important detail that makes this legislation so totally ridiculous and
ineffective to it's core. Electronics products account for less than 0.5% of
world lead usage.
So the EU is restricting one of the smallest portions of lead usage
they could probably find while doing nothing or little about the largest
sources of lead in the environment, consumer and car batteries. At the very
least there should be a significant refundable consumer deposit on batteries of
all types to ensure that people are sufficiently motivated to return spent
batteries for proper disposal/recycling. Yeah it is not perfect or desirable
but at least it would probably have the greatest single impact on lead getting
into the free environment these days.
On your issue of the US giving away sovereignty. The answer is simple,
stay home! Imparting your regulations or lack thereof on others, is that not
infringing on their sovereignty? Be fair, you can neither impart your beliefs
on them nor they impart their beliefs on you without infringing on other's but
that is not sovereignty. Sovereignty is only within your own borders, outside
of your borders you have no sovereignty. That is the key to the whole
definition of sovereign, it is only within the realm of your own borders. If
you want to go international you have to play by other's rules or rules that
you have agreed to with all the other players, just as you expect them to play
by your rules if they want to come and play in your sovereign territory. The
lack of agreement between international parties doesn't co-opt any of your
sovereignty.
Sincerely,
Brad Velander
Senior PCB Designer
Northern Airborne Technology
1925 Kirschner Rd.,
Kelowna, BC, V1Y 4N7.
tel (250) 763-2329 ext. 225
fax (250) 762-3374
-----Original Message-----
From: Bagotronix Tech Support [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: June 30, 2005 9:20 AM
To: Gerhard Fiedler; Open Topic Forum
Subject: Re: [OT] Re: [PEDA] EU regs WAS: Finish: Matte tin vs ENIG ?
(SNIP)
Let's get real for a moment. I know that the environmentalists,
politicians, bureaucrats, and corporate PR people love ROHS and WEEE. But
does anyone who actually functions in an engineering capacity in the
electrical/electronics engineering field *really* believe that ROHS and
WEEE will improve this world? I don't. I see it as a wash, or as a
detriment. My belief on how to improve this world is to:
1) Use the *best* materials for the purpose. In this case, that is
lead-tin solder. Best longevity, least risk of tin whisker growth and
thermal/mech joint failure.
2) Use a design philosophy of building stuff that lasts, and can be
repaired where practical.
3) Don't fill up the landfills or choke the recycling facilities with stuff
that died prematurely due to bad choices of non-optimal materials.
4) Don't choke business with the extreme paperwork required to document
compliance with ROHS and WEEE. It's not just a matter of switching solder
types.
(SNIP)
I am one of those folks who think that international regulations are a loss
of sovereignty. How can they not be? The real issue is how much
sovereignty is a nation willing to give away in order to participate in
world trade. In the case of the US, I feel that our trade reps (the US
Trade Representative) give far too many concessions to other nations. That
is not the fault of other nations, that is our (the US) fault for having
such lousy trade representatives. So, I am not criticizing Europeans as
much as I am criticizing my own government and its lack of interest in
protecting its own markets.
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