TakeBack My TV Campaign

The switch from analog to digital television (DTV) is complete, and will render an estimated 20 million televisions obsolete (Consumers Union survey). Television manufacturers must provide consumers with convenient recycling options, or else the final resting place for these toxic TVs will be our landfills and incinerators – or worse!

See the shocking truth! Click here to watch the video.

Unlike most computer and cell phone companies, many television companies are not yet taking responsibility for recycling their products. So far, our campaign has convinced Sony, LG/Zenith, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba to offer free, nationwide recycling – but most TV makers only offer recycling programs in states where “producer takeback” laws require it. Texas passed such a law for computers in 2007, but it does not yet cover televisions.

Only 18% of “e-waste” is recycled (US EPA) because there are simply too few options for convenient recycling. EPA studies also show that 70% of heavy metal such as lead and mercury in garbage dumps comes from electronic waste.

What other toxic materials are in TVs? Click here to find out.

It’s time to hold TV manufacturers responsible just as they are in other countries of the world—including Japan, Taiwan and throughout the European Union. Despite making billions in profits importing and selling TVs, many manufacturers currently play no role in safely dealing with the waste.

But recently, several leading TV makers have shown leadership by launching “TV Take-Back Programs” in the United States. The gateway is now open for others to follow.

Click here to see which TV companies are recycling and how to use their programs.

Countdown to Contamination

Activists called attention to the upcoming wave of e-waste by demonstrating as "dead TVs walking" at the International Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas. If TV makers don't start recycling their products, the toxins in them will come back to haunt us!

Photo: Justin M. Bowen, Las Vegas Sun