Remember those old bulky television sets? The ones that brought the antics of The Mary Tyler Moore Show or the drama of Twin Peaks into your living room?
How about those old computer monitors? The heavy models on which you learned to type in front of a thick, glowing green or amber screen?
Those big, boxy electronics are obsolete in the U.S., but that does not mean they have disappeared. In fact, an article in The New York Times says there are more than 200 million of these units sitting in American homes just awaiting disposal.
All types of electronic waste present a challenge for recyclers, but televisions and monitors are particularly difficult to deal with. Older models contain a cathode ray tube (CRT), which is the large triangular glass contraption that makes up the bulk of the monitor. According to the same New York Times article, the glass in a CRT can contain up to 8 pounds of a lead, a layer of cadmium-based phosphorous and other dangerous heavy metals.
“You can touch the glass, you can lick the glass, and you’re not going to get lead poisoning,” says Aaron Blum, co-founder and Chief Compliance Officer at Electronic Recyclers International, Inc., a California-based company that recycles 250 million pounds of electronics annually. However, once that glass enters a landfill, it is likely to break. When that happens, the lead and other toxins can leach into soil and water.
ERI is one of the brave few willing to handle these bulky, hard-to-recycle items. Blum took a few minutes to explain the process for correctly stripping down and recycling a CRT television or monitor.
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Source: 1-800-RECYCLING
By Sophia Bennett
Disclosure: Electronic Recyclers International is the parent company of UrbanMining.org.