TV Recycling

With televisions getting better and less expensive all the time, people are almost always upgrading. If you can’t find someone to buy your old television from you, what do you do? Placing your old televisions on the curb with the rest of your trash is simply not an option in most municipalities, as many municipal trash-collection companies will not pick them up.

This has resulted in the illegal dumping of thousands of televisions in random places. The improper disposal of televisions is a growing environmental concern. To meet the increasing need for responsible television recycling, Newtech Recycling offers a wide range of collection, processing, and e-waste recycling services, including TV recycling and much, much more.

The reason that old televisions are considered such a threat to the environment is because of the potentially dangerous materials they contain. Televisions are manufactured using toxic heavy metals such as chromium, lead, cadmium, and mercury. When disposed of improperly, the toxic metals that televisions contain, contaminate landfill soil and potentially contaminate water supplies.

States and municipalities have followed the standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and passed legislation regarding the responsible handling of e-waste.

Often referred to as legacy televisions, cathode ray tube televisions are the traditional large televisions with the picture tube. Rendered virtually obsolete by plasma and eventually LED models, millions of CRT televisions are nevertheless still in use today. Likewise, they still pose a considerable threat to the environment.

Countless CRT monitors and televisions have been placed in basements and stored in obscure places in homes across America. During manufacturing, the large glass tubes that function as screens were lined with lead. That’s why CRT televisions are classified as solid toxic waste, thus requiring special disposal and processing measures when they have reached the end of their useful life.

Television manufacturing gets more efficient all the time, but even modern flat-panel LCD televisions contain hazardous materials that require them to be disposed of properly. Many LCD screens made before 2009 contain mercury, a metal particularly hazardous to humans in vapor form.

Even flat-panel televisions made after 2009 contain dangerous materials such as other heavy metals and flame-retardant substances. For these reasons, it’s important to work with a trusted, R2 Certified TV recycler like Newtech Recycling when disposing of old and unwanted LCD televisions. Never assume that an electronic device can be simply thrown away just because it is newer; all electronics contain potentially harmful substances.

Since old televisions can contain as much as eight pounds of lead, it is critical that these products be handled with the utmost care. With the rise of e-waste, TV recycling has become a growing concern. The EPA says that only 2 percent of the waste in landfills consists of e-waste, while this waste accounts for as much as 70 percent of the toxins contained in landfills.

Government regulations have been imposed on the disposal of e-waste, and this includes the handling of old televisions. Televisions must be sent to approved recycling facilities, where they are processed according to law. Half of the states in the country have laws that align with the federal guidelines for television recycling.

By contrast, a recycled TV can be broken down into component parts, many of which can be recovered and reintroduced into the manufacturing process to be used in the creation of new products. This in turn cuts down on resource waste and reduces the scarcity of difficult-to-obtain materials.

When it comes to disposing of e-waste, you are morally obligated to make yourself part of the solution. In our society, there is a time when nearly everyone has to deal with how they are going to get rid of their old electronics. From TV and computer recycling to secure IT hardware and data destruction services, Newtech Recycling makes it easy to do your part to protect our environment for future generations.

Get in touch with Newtech Recycling to schedule a pickup for any amount of electronic waste you have accumulated. We will see that it is disposed of safely and according to law. A clean future environment demands it.