Disposal of old CRTs--particularly polychromes...
 

I'm here on a brain-picking mission...

What is the ethical way to dispose of these old CRTs other than smashing them to bits with a sledgehammer and feeding the fragments into your regular rubbish.

We have a "transfer station" in my little town rather than a landfill.

Disposal of anything involving a CRT means fees ranging from 15 dollars and up--depending on size of tube.

There are issues in disposal of CRTs, in that they contain various toxic and supposedly carcinogenic compounds that would be heaved into the environment to endanger any and all if one wants to amuse themselves by demolishing a tube.

Does anyone have any knowledge as to where my recycling center disposes of these sets, and how the tubes and their harmful substances get handled, and where the materials end up.....?

This info I can probably get from a town official, who will hand me a sheet or pamphlet on how this stuff is handled--but perhaps not to the end detail.

Other than that this is a rhetorical question, simply to raise thought about this issue if nothing else...

Anyone with a concrete answer is welcome to chime in...

Didn't you just answer your own question? Pay the fee, tube goes away. Sounds pretty ethical to me. :thmbsp:

If you have complete sets, a Goodwill store might take it to sell. Not ethical, but it would become someone else's problem then...

CRT's contain lead. They have to be disposed of properly - like hazardous waste.

It is my understanding that only color CRTs contain lead. B&W ones do not. This could make disposal of the B&W ones less of an issue.

My larger question is: After I pay the seemingly exorbitant fees--what ultimately happens to them...?! Where do they go from my "recycling" station?

Maybe I can get a straight answer from my municipality, but I just bring the question up here to see how you folks handle this. And to see if you know where they all end up.

It can't be easy to dispose of a CRT, as they need to be dismantled, and the various elements separated...

It seems a complicated process....

Check this out: recycling CRT

The cut the front off which has loads of lead and recycle separately. At this facility anyway.

A simple google search for "crt disposal" turned up a several articles talking about exporting tubes and recylcling. Kinda interesting... i did not realize we exported used tubes. Sure hope they aren't shipping out any roundies! Here are two that I read... the list was endless...

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress...6!OpenDocument

http://www.mass.gov/dep/recycle/reduce/crtrsbz.htm

Here's a bit about what one article says...

What happens to my old computer or television?

Often, your computer will be reused by a charity or school. Or, it may be taken apart and recycled. The different parts of the computer or television are used in many different ways:

The glass CRT is either returned to a manufacturer and made into a new CRT, or sent to a smelter where the lead is recovered and recycled.
The plastic housing is ground to smaller pieces and recycled for use in various items such as retaining blocks and pothole mix.
Circuit boards, chips, and other parts can be reused to repair or upgrade older electronics or recycled for their scrap value.
Metal components will be separated and sold for their scrap value

The local dump has found a new way to profit off their customers..

I remember when finding something cool at the dump and taking it home and fixing it was half the fun... WASTE MANAGEMENT put a halt to that..

I make sure to destroy my electronic items before i recycle them so they cannot profit off my trash. I'de rather let a friend salvage it than the dump...

SR

Some CRTs are recycled intact. I've found a few recent bottom of the range 14" sets with used VGA monitor CRTs in them.

Man, I've seen SO MANY CRT tv's and monitors in the trash lately. Like, every time I get behind the wheel of my car. Poor landfills....people in the big apple do not seem to be recycling them for the most part. Mostly BPC sets and digital tuned 80s ones.

Is it ethical to properly dispose of it at the transfer station for 15 bucks. They then sell it to China where some kid tears it apart and gets poisoned? Not that I have a position or an answer just a thought.

Oddly, this report says that monochrome (b/w) CRTs may be disposed of without the threat of lead leaching. 70-80% of discarded color CRTs leached lead in excess of environmental studies.

http://www.hinkleycenter.com/publica...ility_99-5.pdf

Cheers,

There was an ad on the local craigslist a week ago asking folks to contact them regarding environmently friendly TV recycling. I thought it might have been timed with the repeat of the 60 minutes story. So, I emailed them letting them know what I collect. They replied and asked me to sign up on their website; apparently I will be listed as an "alternative" means of recycling? We shall see!

LOL - That's the best idea I've seen in a while :thmbsp: