Recycling a dead TV

Last Saturday evening, my 15-year-old Sony television gave up the ghost. It was a quick death presaged by distortion in the picture. The TV shut itself off and could not be revived.

My wife, Lonni, had wanted to get a new flat screen TV for some time, but I said we would wait until our old Sony died. Lonni writes murder mysteries; you don’t suppose….

Anyway, the death gave us an excuse to get a modern flat screen TV, which we did Sunday afternoon at Walmart. But what to do with the old, large, very heavy TV?

I did an internet search of companies that would recycle TVs. Near the top of the list was an outfit called “Suburban Miners” (3959 E. Speedway #305, phone 406-7446). Their website is www.suburbanminers.com.

They offer free pickup, but I decided to drop off my TV so I could see their operation. They take all manner of electronics and appliances; I saw old washing machines, dryers, and vacuum cleaners among the items there. The place is located in a small industrial park near Speedway and Alvernon. I drove up, a fellow came out and unload the TV, no hassle. He said the TV was so heavy because of the amount of lead it contained. In addition to the lead, they could also recover copper.

For businesses, Suburban Miners offers Certificates of Recycling and Certificates of Destruction. There are, of course, several places in Tucson where you can recycle unwanted electronics and appliances, see a list here: http://recycle-tv.com/arizona/tucson-az

Recycling helps keep our landfills free of toxic material and allows recovery of valuable resources.

Recycling is encouraged by no-hassle, no-cost solutions. City of Tucson, take note.

Copyrighted by Jonathan DuHamel. Reprint is permitted provided that credit of authorship is provided and linked back to the source.