CNET followed the last day of an analog TV's life as it was being recycled.
(Credit: Erik Palm/CNET)On June 12, the U.S. makes its long-anticipated shift to digital television. As that changeover prompts consumers to ditch their old analog TV sets in favor of more modern devices, environmental organizations such as Greenpeace are warning of a surge in e-waste.
"We are seeing now a huge anticipated spike in the amount of electronic waste, really a tsunami of electronic waste coming through because of this digital transition," said Casey Harrell, a Greenpeace International campaigner.
And it's not just that the old television sets are piling up--as with scrapped PCs and printers, there's also the danger that they'll be exported to places with lax or nonexistent environmental safeguards.
"We're seeing a new wave of electronic waste that's ending up on the shores of India, China, West Africa, and Latin America," Harrell said.
E-waste often contains toxic metals such as cadmium, lead, and mercury, along with flame retardant chemicals that can accumulate in the body and potentially cause reproductive and neurological harm.
In the face of those concerns, some businesses are now promising to recycle your TV properly.
CNET News followed one aging analog TV as it headed to the next world, making its own transition from consumer electronics device to scrap metal and other parts. We met Mark Salvador as he was leaving his old Symphonic TV at a Waste Management site in San Leandro, Calif.
"The remote is not working, and the picture is not good. That is why we buy a new TV," Salvador said.
Salvador's TV set is transported from collector Waste Management to E-Recycling of California, in Hayward, south of Oakland. E-Recycling of California has pledged not to burn, dump, or export the waste, and for that reason it has received E-Stewards certification from the Basel Action Network, a watchdog group.
"We are actually dismantling it down into commodities...Everything's going at a commodity level on to be further recycled," Russ Caswell, manager at E-Recycling, explained. "A plastic-based television (is) 100 percent (recyclable). About the only thing on any television that doesn't always get totally recycled or reused would be a wooden case from an old console TV."
Ivan Tego of E-Recycling of California dismantles an analog TV.
(Credit: Erik Palm/CNET)So what can you do to avoid contributing to the wave of electronic waste from the digital transition?
First, Greenpeace says, consider whether you really need a new TV. A digital converter box, subsidized by the government, can keep your old TV alive a few more years. Alternatively, the TV could continue its useful life for a while longer if you donate it to a charitable organization--the Environmental Protection Agency lists a number that will take the devices.
If you do decide to recycle the old TV, first go to the TV manufacturer's Web site for recycling information. (PC makers and retailers also offer recycling programs.) If you head to a recycling facility, make sure that the recycler has E-Stewards certification.
More information on recycling from EPA can be found here.
Digital TV will bring a new world of entertainment to consumers and generate a big honking pile of electronic waste.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Roughly 80 million analog TVs will get heaved out in 2008 and 2009, according to John Shegerian, CEO of Electronic Recyclers (ER), one of the largest e-waste recyclers in the U.S., and someone is going to have to dispose of those old TVs properly. The glass in the tube consists of about 22 percent lead.
Even without the digital TV mandate (which kicks in on February 17, 2009), the e-recycling business is booming. Roughly 65 million pounds of e-waste was recycled in 2005 in California alone after the state passed a recycling law and the figure shot up to 120 million pounds in 2006. More than 200 million pounds will be recycled in the state this year, he added.
Minnesota and Massachusetts have passed laws mandating e-waste recycling, and more laws are on the way. Approximately 35 other states are now tinkering with laws.
"E-waste bans are going to become mandatory," he said, during a presentation and hallway meeting at the ThinkGreen conference taking place in San Francisco.
ER has seen its revenues double every year for the past four years. Roughly half the revenue comes from recycling fees paid by states or large corporations to the company to dispose of waste. The other half comes from selling the indium, glass, lead, and other materials that come out of the recycling process.
"Everything in your cell phone or TV is reusable," he said.
The company has two facilities in the country, one in California and one in Massachusetts, but it plans to expand elsewhere.
One of the stumbling blocks has been getting people to understand e-waste laws, he acknowledged. Then there is the collection problem. A lot of people just leave this stuff in their garage. ER collects it itself but also has teamed up with Goodwill Industries. Serving as a collector netted the charity $1 million in recycling fees in California, he added.
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