Recycling your TV is much more environmentally friendly.
Instead of pushing your old TV into the attic or storage, consider recycling it. The term for electronic equipment that can be used for recycling is e-waste. To recycle your TV, take it to an e-waste recycling program location. According to the Recycle Your Television Nowarticle written by Glenn Derene, between 2006 and 2007 only 18 percent of TVs (by weight) were recycled. When your TV is recycled, some parts are discarded and some are reused.
What Happens?
John Shegerian, an electronic waste expert, explains that your TV is taken into their facility and bar-coded. It is then de-manufactured, where they strip down the plastics and then separate the CRT monitor which is crushed. The different parts of the TV are put into bins according to the materials. This allows the metals and glass to be reused.
Recycling Laws
If you dump your TV into your regular trash, you are breaking the law. Your TV contains materials that are potentially harmful to the ecosystem. Recycling is important because it allows the TV to be dismantled so that parts can be reused. If you throw your TV into the trash, it gets compounded into the earth and may end up in our drinking water.
Additional Facts
As well as being friendly for our ecosystem, recycling your TV provides jobs for U.S. citizens. A TV must be dismantled by hand, which requires workers. The more jobs that are available, the stronger our economy.
