In 2009, will the mass disposal of old TVs and radios harm the environment?

Question

(Due to the switch to digital broadcasting.) I imagine a lot of people will buy new TVs and radios. What will happen to the old ones? Are there ways to recycle/reuse parts?

This is not a source of worry for me, trust me. It's just a question! Just wondering what the environmentalist POV is.

Answer 1

For my city, it is required to send these electronics to the waste management collection center. They will take them apart for recycling. There are volunteer organization that reuse electronic parts, repair and send old electronics to the poor.

The plastic casing and glass will be recycled. The panels and tubing are probably going to the landfills.

The scary part is that people are dumping in a faster rate regardless or switching to digital. I read on a Hong Kong paper that people are dumping older model flat panel TV in the trash. The reporter took many electronics back home and they are all in perfect working condition. So wasteful! People are chasing home appliances style like they do with cellphones!

Answer 2

Well you could throw away your analogue TV............or you could do what people are doing now and continue to watch digital TV using a Terrestrial DigiBox connected to your old analogue TV!!! Just wait until your analogue TV is life-expired before jumping to buy a new TV just because your salesmen say you MUST.

As with all matters concerning the subjects of recycling and technology, it pays to make an educated and common sense decision having got all the facts.

Hope this helps lots of people to save money and the environment.

Remember, not always is it wise to listen to the "expert" salesman, just think back to VHS (Video Hardly Standard) and Betamax (Better, Max quality, reliabilty) which was sold to us by salesmen who never read the specifications.

I believe also that the planned switch off for analogue TV is in fact 2012.

Answer 3

In most locations in the US (if you live elsewhere, you should check with their standards), recycling of electronics like TVs, radios, computers, etc is mandatory. Still, some states do not offer free recycling of these things, so some people choose to dump them in the woods or on the sides of roads instead. Legally in these "mandatory recycling" states, you are not supposed to just put an electronic "in the trash." So, mass disposal could harm the environment if many people chose not to recycle their appliances.

Answer 4

It may. However, recycling is becoming more common with electronics as the raw materials prices escalate. A better example is computers, where HP and Dell have recycling programs and programs that allow you to return yourold computer for recycling when you buy a new one. The biggest obstacle, I think, is the collection and transportation of these recyclable electronic devices. In less populated areas this will be the issue whereas in big metropolitan areas,it will be much more feasible.

Answer 5

There is no government mandate that I've heard of for broadcasting companies to broadcast only digital signal in 2009; that would just be wrong - even for our government. So first why would thousands of broadcasting sources spend millions of dollars to upgrade their analog equipment to start transmitting digital?

Also as seen by the current digital broadcasters, just because a company broadcasts in digital doesn't mean your television will stop working.

Answer 6

As I understand it, only over the air analog signals will stop. If a person has their TV hooked up to cable they will continue to receive a signal from the cable company. Also, it the TV is hooked up to a DVD only, it won't matter. The vast majority of Americans have cable, and only a small number get their signal strictly from over the air broadcast. There will be some dumping of analog televisions, but I don't think it will be that great

Answer 7

The disposal of Tvs and Radios in 2009 will harm the enviroment.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

It's already a problem-most of our electronics contain some kind of toxic chemicals and they take up a ton of space in our landfills waiting tousands of years to biodegrade.There are ways to recycle parts right now, EPA calls it e-cycling.

Answer 10

Throw them in your thrash and let your disposal company worry about it. That is what you pay your disposal company for. Of all the things to worry about this is not one of them!!!