New TV Tech Spawns Trash Wave

As high definition televisions flood the market, and the 2009 switch from analog to all-digital broadcast signals looms, there is increasing concern about the tidal wave of hazardous wastes people toss out with their old tubes. Televisions, like a lot of electronic equipment, often include lead, cadmium and mercury. No one wants neurotoxins like these leaching into water from landfills or fouling the air after being spewed from incinerator smokestacks. The problem of tech trash is not new. Cell phone, computer and battery recycling have increased precisely because of concerns about tossing hazardous electronic bits into landfills or incinerators. TVs have been trashed for years, of course, but the prospect of watching an entire generation of televisions trashed in favor of the latest technology presents a new opportunity for TV recycling, according to a story in the May 24 Los Angeles Times. To find out how to recycle electronics in your community, call the local municipal waste agency and ask about hazardous household waste disposal.