E-waste recyclers have collected vast amounts of old cathode ray tube monitors in recent years. CRT monitors contain evacuated glass envelopes, which can be difficult to reuse and create detrimental issues to the environment or people around the toxins if they are left unattended and drain into waterways or soils.
CRTs are vacuum tubes used in television sets and computer monitors to deflect electron beams onto the screen to create images. Their evacuated glass envelopes are made of thick, leaded glass to block X-ray missions and be shatter resistant.
The growing number of recycled monitors is creating problems, particularly in Arizona. A warehouse in the city of Yuma was recently found containing more than 9 million pounds of CRT glass. A now-defunct company, Dow Management, had collected the glass and then disappeared after being paid more than $581,000 by California recyclers to house the glass.
While the owners of Dow Management cannot be found, the recycling companies who shipped the CRTs to Arizona are removing the material at their own expense and sending it to another processor. It is illegal by federal law to house CRT glass for longer than a year.
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Source: 1-800-RECYCLING
By April Stearns