As a result, an estimated 45,000 tons of analog TVs will be discarded in the area in the next two to five years, estimated Bob Akers of The Surplus Exchange, a Kansas City electronic waste recycler.
Akers and others hope owners will opt for recycling instead of a landfill. Many already have.
The Surplus Exchange has recycled more than 3,000 sets this year, up from only about 100 a year just two years ago, Akers said.
Those old rabbit-eared boxes contain chemicals that can be hazardous if allowed to seep into groundwater.
Nationwide, there are about 280 million analog TVs still in homes, and some will end up in landfills, said John Shegerian, chief executive of Electronic Recyclers International, an electronic waste recycler. Shegerian said those old sets could be almost entirely recycled by companies.
Dennis Gagnon, a spokesman for the Kansas City Public Works Department, said residents shouldn’t be too concerned about chemicals from their TVs seeping out because the city’s landfill has a liner to prevent that. But he said the city still encouraged residents to recycle their TVs.
Allied Waste and Deffenbaugh charge customers about $35 to pick up a TV and take it to the landfill. Kansas City will take larger TVs as part of its bulky-items collection by appointment. The city will take smaller ones in trash bags.
For converter box coupons
The FCC will continue to issue $40 rebate coupons to purchase converter boxes until July 31. Call 1-888-DTV-2009 or go to www.dtv2009.gov to request one.
Tips for disposing of televisions
- Some manufacturers and cities may offer free collection or recycling programs, so check their Web sites before paying for recycling.
- Some of those programs don’t tell how the TV will be safely recycled, so it’s best to ask.
- If there isn’t a free way to recycle that chemical-laden TV, The Surplus Exchange, 518 Santa Fe St. in the West Bottoms, will take it for about 35 cents a pound. Call the recycler at 816-472-0444.
- Not all recycling centers take old TVs. A list of those that will can be found at www.ecyclemo.org for Missouri and ksewaste.org for Kansas.