LCD TV Recycling

LCD TVs are difficult to recycle.

LCD televisions use technology that makes them challenging to recycle. While electronic stores will accept these televisions for recycling, most of the parts used in LCD TVs are not reusable.

Significance

LCD television technology employs products that are hazardous to the environment. The pictures on the televisions are illuminated by a series of glass tubes that use mercury, a highly toxic vapor.

Considerations

When choosing a place to take the television for recycling, ask the staff in charge of recycling what they do with the LCD televisions they receive. The sets need to be disassembled in an environment that will capture the mercury vapors so that the machine operators do not inhale these toxic gases.

Solution

If the local area does not have a place to recycle LCD televisions safely, contact the manufacturer of your television. As of October 2010, some companies are taking back and properly disposing of the products they sell.

References

• Electronic Take Back Coalition: The Problem With Electronics

Resources

• Electronic Take Back Coalition: Which Manufacturers Take Back Their Products?