Elkridge, Md. – December 2, 2008 – The number of televisions shipped to retailers is increasing according to a report published by Display Search, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting. Driving this boom is the urgency to prepare for the digital TV transition coming in early 2009, the increased availability of high definition television programming and the reduced cost of high-performance sets.
While consumer demand for new television sets continues to surge, the question electronics recycling experts at Maryland-based E-Structors are asking: "where are the old units going and what is the environmental impact?"
According to E-Structors, specialists in the secure destruction and recycling of computers, electronics and paper documents, careful consideration should be given before walking that old set out to the curb.
In a 2008 report published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlining statistics on electronics recycling and e-waste over the span of one year, nearly 80-85 percent of discarded electronics were put in landfills. Included in that percentage - 20 million discarded TVs.
While these alarming statistics illustrate the burden that is placed on U.S. landfills, the hidden dangers to the environment are what should be noted.
"People focus on the excitement of a new television and often overlook what is being thrown out," said Julie Keough, CEO of E-Structors. "Two things happen when an old set is put in a landfill – valuable raw materials like copper and steel are lost and dangerous chemicals like lead, brominated flame retardants, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, and barium are introduced into the waste stream."
In nearly every case, when a television has reached the end of its useful life and is disposed of properly through a qualified electronics recycler, the amount of dangerous chemicals introduced to the waste stream is significantly reduced and technical nutrients are harvested for reuse.
A Closer Look Inside
What appears to be a heap of junk to most is a treasure chest of raw materials. In most cases, a television set is quickly evaluated - working parts are harvested for refurbishing and old sets at the end of their useful life are moved to the dismantling process.
"We are seeing a spike in demand for qualified electronics recycling," said Keough. "We recently expanded our operation by more than 74,000 square feet to keep up with the volume and we're still bursting at the seams. We process nearly 560 televisions per day, the equivalent of more than 47,000 pounds of waste that would have gone to a landfill. This shows people are paying attention to what they are throwing into the landfills."
Once all working parts are removed and sent along to be used in refurbishing projects, the old set is dismantled down to the following parts:
Housing: generally, the housing around a television is plastic or wood. Wood and particle board products contain toxic materials such as formaldehyde in the resin making it unsuitable for reuse. Similar to the plastic water bottles, plastic television carcasses are broken down and sent along to qualified plastic recyclers.
Circuit Boards: Everything on circuit boards inside a television – including the board itself – can be recycled. Each is made with a variety of extremely valuable precious metals and plastics. When stripped down to raw materials, items like gold, silver, palladium and copper are gathered as well as the plastic they were attached to. The real benefit of removing and stripping television circuit boards is that it significantly reduces the amount of hazardous materials in the waste stream like lead, brominated flame retardants, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, and barium while reducing costs and reliance on natural resources by 25%, according to Recycling Today magazine.
Cathode Ray Tube: The main component in an older analog television set is the cathode ray tube (CRT). A CRT works by sweeping an electron beam of varying intensity across a phosphor-coated screen. This is what creates the picture. When the unit no longer functions, CRTs become extremely dangerous. A CRT is vacuum-sealed and can contain as much as eight pounds of lead. Specially-trained professionals at E-Structors move waste CRTs into a ventilated, high-efficiency particulate air filter room where the entire unit is separated into leaded and unleaded glass. What most people do not understand is the CRT is the largest source of lead in municipal landfills (htttp://www.earth911.org/master.asp?s=lib&a=electronics/elec_faq/asp). When a CRT is disposed of improperly, it is smashed into thousands of pieces allowing significant amounts of lead and phosphorous to seep into the waste stream. Proper disposal diverts these dangerous chemicals from the waste stream and the glass from the CRT is then processed and shipped to glass processors who clean, re-fire and reuse the glass in the production of new television screens.
Precious metals, steel, copper and additional plastic: A television is made up of thousands of tiny parts that create the beautiful picture on the screen. While most people click the remote and sit back to enjoy their favorite sitcom, precious metals, steel and copper are hard at work creating the images you see on your screen. During the process of stripping a television down, stainless steel is gathered from the electron gun – the device responsible for creating the electron beam – while copper and plastic are collected from the component that deflects the electrons to the proper position on the screen. The holes of the metal alloy shadow mask ensure precise illumination of the phosphors on the screen. It is also recyclable. In addition, all the knobs, gears and wire account for significant amounts of copper, metal and plastic (depending on the size of the television).
As the February 17, 2009 conversion to digital broadcasting quickly approaches, it is important to consider the impact old televisions will make on the nation's waste stream. According to the EPA, 2007 brought with it nearly 27 million new televisions. Nearly 27 million were disposed. Of those 27 million tossed, a little more than 6 million were disposed of through a qualified electronics recycling facility like E-Structors.
If a new television set is on the horizon, it is important for consumers to factor environmental costs into the equation. Electronic waste is growing in U.S. landfills at an alarming rate. If properly disposed, the waste generated can be dramatically reduced allowing for fewer burdens on natural resources, raw materials and landfills.
For more information on how to properly dispose of unwanted televisions, please visit
www.e-structors.com, e-mail info@e-structors.com or call 1-877-492-4968.