element14 To Auction ‘electronics Waste Sculpture’ At Electronica To Benefit Charity

element14 is building the sculpture from electronics waste in the “Atrium at the entrance East” at electronica, in Munich, Germany. All attendees to the event have been encouraged to donate an old electronic device, component or small piece of electronics hardware to help in the building of the sculpture and show their commitment to responsible recycling.

element 14 is all too aware of the dangers of recycling to extract valuable metals such as gold, silver, copper and aluminium. Electronic waste is heated over open fires and the stripping of cables and PCBs in acid baths, often by children, is also commonplace. This can release arsenic, chromium, lead, mercury and other toxins directly into the atmosphere, with significant impact on both the health of those recycling the waste and the local environment.

“Together as an industry we are all committed to addressing the problems caused by the unregulated recycling of ewaste in developing countries,” said Harriet Green, CEO of Premier Farnell. “element14 offers the industry’s leading online source of up-to-date global electronics legislation information to help design engineers access the data they need from one definitive source. We hope the ‘electronics waste sculpture’ will give everyone at electronica the chance to show their commitment to the ever growing need to act responsibly for the future of our planet and its people, and regulate the recycling of electronic waste.”

element14 and its community recognise the enormous challenge that design engineers face in keeping abreast of the vast amount of environmental legislation from a plethora of sources globally. The community continues to support engineers at every stage of the design cycle from concept to production by offering a combination of community, content and a fully developed industry legislation portal, containing guides to industry relevant legislation such as RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances), WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), REACH, ErP/Eco-Design and many more, all available for immediate download at no charge.

About element14

Launched in June 2009, element14 is the first, innovative information portal and eCommunity specifically built for electronic design engineers. It provides product data, design tools and technology information, whilst incorporating Web 2.0 functionality to facilitate communication, interaction, collaboration and information sharing between colleagues around the world. Users can consult experts, discover trends, post blogs, articles and comments in this world-wide forum.

Since its launch element14 has surpassed all of the targets set, has garnered overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers and suppliers alike, and is now attracting more than 24,000 visitors a week with new user profiles created each day.

element14 is an innovative offering from Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), FTSE 250, a leader in multi-channel distribution and specialty services for electronic design engineers throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. It has a stocked range of 450,000+ products, and access to 4,000,000 more items from 3,500 top manufacturers. The company has group sales of £795.3m and over 4,100 employees globally.