With the Super Bowl less than two weeks away, many retailers are offering big discounts on the flashiest new televisions. But as exciting as it is to own new video-streaming-enabled TVs with curved screens and 4K UltraHD resolution, sooner or later you’re going to have to ask yourself: “What do I do with my old set?”
You can always stick it in the spare bedroom or in the back of the closet. But if it’s time to get it out of the house, don’t toss it into the river or leave it in the garbage. Old TVs and the components within them have a useful life ahead of them if they’re donated to a thrift store or recycled.
Dale Emanuel, spokeswoman for Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette, said Clark County residents donated nearly 1.5 million pounds worth of televisions last year. That figure makes up a small portion of the 29.8 million pounds of donations that 489,000 Clark County donors gave to Goodwill last year.
Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette covers 27 counties in Southwest Washington and Central and Northwest Oregon. The organization isn’t particular when it comes to what kind of TV is donated, so long as it’s not disassembled. If Goodwill can’t sell it, it will recycle it.
“We still take the old tube TVs … even those huge console TVs,” she said. “(They) don’t even have to work — we prefer it did. That way hopefully we can get more revenue for it and help more people.”
If going to the transfer station is more in order for your old set, you’re not alone. Southwest Washington recycles a lot of televisions. According to a report by the Washington Materials Management & Financing Authority, Clark County recycled more than 2.5 million pounds of televisions in 2015. As a whole, Washington state recycled 35.2 million pounds of TVs.
Columbia Resource Company manages three transfer stations in Clark County and each one takes TVs free of charge.
Joe Essig, transfer stations operations manager of Columbia Resources, said the three transfer stations in Clark County sent out 460 tons of electronics for recycling last year.
Most Goodwill locations, a couple other thrift stores, and all the transfer stations in Clark County are E-Cycle Washington collectors, meaning they will accept TVs, computers, and monitors free of charge from households, small businesses, charities, schools and small government agencies.
The E-Cycle program is a collaboration between manufacturers, retailers, collectors, recyclers and state and local governments to keep electronics out of the landfill.
According to the E-Cycle Washington website, the majority of recycled TVs are dismantled and processed in Washington state. It also says an average of 2 percent of the total volume of recycled electronics goes to landfills, most of which is particleboard from cabinet TVs.
Some electronics are processed out-of-state and some materials are exported for recycling at approved facilities.
But the program prioritizes keeping electronics from being exported to countries with weak hazardous waste laws.
For more information about where to recycle your TV, visit http://bit.ly/1czErgK.
