Donating or Recycling Your TV

Snapshot:

• Planning to get rid of an ANALOG TV?  Think about its value to others, or recycle it properly.

• Donate the TV to a charity that accepts TVs.  Perhaps purchase and donate a converter box to go with it.

• Or give the TV away.  There are Internet communities that let you post donations for free.

• Otherwise, don't put it in the trash.  Recycle the TV with a qualified electronics recycler.

If you have replaced an analog TV or have no more use for it, think about whether it has value for others.  Otherwise, recycle it properly.  Here are the possibilities.  

You can sell the TV.  If you're thinking about selling the TV, you might not have much success.  With millions of analog TVs losing reception of full power TV stations in 2009, there will be many TVs available, and therefore very little resale value for analog TVs. 

You can donate the TV to a charity.  You can explore donating the TV to a charitable organization or service group.  To make the TV useful, you can purchase a DIGITAL TV CONVERTER BOX to go with it, and you can apply one of the coupons that the government will issue to your household to the purchase a converter.  For information on the TV converter box COUPON PROGRAM, click here.  Look for charitable organizations in your area that will accept donations of analog TVs.                  

You can give the TV away.  You can see if anyone in your area would like to get your TV for free.  A national Internet-based organization called "Freecycle" allows people to list items that they want to give away on the Internet, on a Freecycle list for their home areas.  Others interested in getting those items can reply by e-mail.  Joining Freecycle and listing items to give away is free.  For information on this program, go to www.freecycle.org.  Or you can offer your TV on a local listing like Craigslist, www.craigslist.org.

Otherwise, properly recycle the TV.  If you are getting rid of the TV and don’t give it to others who will use it, you must arrange to recycle it.  TV sets contain materials which can pose a risk to human health, such as lead, cadmium, and mercury.  They do not belong in the trash, and ultimately in landfills, where they can contaminate soil and water. In a few states it is illegal to put consumer electronics items in the trash.

 Most communities have several recycling options for old electronics, including municipal programs, waste company programs, and retail store programs which sometimes give credit toward new purchases.  When you buy a new TV, see if the retailer will take your old TV in trade.

If you recycle the TV, you will probably have to deliver the TV to a recycling location.  Some recycling programs charge a fee for accepting electronics.  The fee can be based on the size or weight of the recycled items, and is used to offset the cost of transporting and processing the items. 

The Consumer Electronics Association sponsors a recycling resource, www.mygreenelectronics.org.  This site provides a list of electronics recycling programs in your area, based on zip code, as well as donation and recycling options for computers, cell phones, and batteries.  It has links to the recycling programs of these TV manufacturers and retailers: Dell, Gateway, HP, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, and Best Buy.

Another site that lists TV donation and recycling options, as well as manufacturer recycling programs, is www.earth911.org.

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CAPITALIZED WORDS are defined in the Digital TV Glossary.