Once in a Lifetime Opportunity to affect all forms of Recycling
The deadline for the switch to digital broadcast Television is fast approaching with 7 months and 16 days left. Are we any closer to having a solution for the disposal of old analog TVs besides the one the FCC continues communicating over the airwaves? Their idea of a solution is to educate the public on WHY we should hang onto to our old analog TVs.
Although it is important to communicate and educate U.S. residents that their analog TVs will still work with cable and satellite hook ups or converter boxes, it does NOT mean we won’t end up with another electronic stock pile in our basements, attics and garages like we did with computers over the last 15-20 years. Many of us are still sitting on that stock pile which is calculated in the tens of millions of units nationwide. Are we going to do the same thing with TVs?
The problem with the FCCs solution is first that it's only a temporary solution because at some point in the next 2-4 years we will all want to discard of our analog TVs. Then what??? And secondly, the problem with their solution is that it perpetuates stock piling and post pones the inevitable.
There has not been one announcement by the FCC, nor by any other group telling U.S. residents who have already replaced their old analog units or who are planning on replacing some of their old analog TVs where they can go to RECYCLE them. If you look at the results from the chart below for the 5 states in the South East (pink line) you can conclude that this is a probable representation of most of the United States who currently do not have TV/Monitor landfill bans in place.
We ran a similar chart on the Midwest two months ago with worse or similar results in all 5 Midwestern states to those below in the Southeast. There are 45 states that will be able to throw their TVs in their weekly garbage between now and the digital transition deadline of Feb 17th 2009 as well as the year after that date and a few more years to come.
If 10% of the total amount of analog TVs in existence in all the states come into the waste stream due to households replacing their analog TVs with digital TVs beginning in 2008, and continuing forward, the U.S. will be depositing 585 million pounds of toxic waste into land fills per year until we come up with a solution (see www.classiccomputerrecovery.com/ TV Storm/ and scroll down to the chart on Toxic Metals in Televisions) . FYI: The statistic of 1 in 4 households disposing of 1 analog TV is the same thing as saying 10% of all the analog TVs in existence.
Equally as bad as the environmental argument is regarding toxic waste, we also have the economic argument: for every 10% of analog TVs thrown into landfills over the next 4 years we will be burying 750 million dollars in precious metals and recoverable elements such as plastics. If you multiply the number by 10 to represent 100% of all analog TVs in existence then the economic argument becomes 7.5 billion dollars being buried in land fills and the environmental argument becomes 5.85 billion of pounds of toxic waste.
If public sector organizations such as counties and cities got together with the private sector waste haulers, and/or E-waste Recyclers they could easily set up Permanent Drop Off (PDO) locations to take ALL computers, TVs and other electronics from residents at a fairly low cost to the majority of counties in every state.
The cost for a county out of pocket is less than $2500 (one-time expense) and a budget for TVs to cover 1 in households disposing of 1 TV = $50,000-$225,000 maximum per year, per county. This covers 90% of all counties in every state because the numbers of households are 55,000 or less in 90% of all the counties in every state.
The implementation of PDOs is not happening fast enough considering the FCC mandated deadline is fast approaching. There are not enough public sector Permanent Drop Off (PDO) locations or temporary drop offs sites set up to collect the TVs on a county basis, although every county could have at least one set up between now and the end of the year 2008.
When you analyze the data on the pink line from the chart below, you'll arrive at the obvious conclusion that we look like we aren’t even trying to put infrastructure in place to be part of the solution for the DTV transition.
Will our counties be prepared for the upcoming digital switch in 2009 with a GOOD ANSWER for residents when they call in to see where they can recycle their TV? Will we be able to tell them we have somewhere they can drive to drop off their unwanted TVs? Do the counties realize that they will be the ones getting an increasing number of phone calls from their residents who want to dispose of their TV's properly as the year draws to a close?
We know that we won’t get 100% of the 1 in 4 households to drive to a PDO because of the inconvenience, but we think we could collectively get 50% with a little creativity, motivation and cooperation on the money side of this equation. That being said, it's still in every county's best interest to have a solution ready to offer instead of telling residents you don’t have one. Putting the TVs at the curb for land filling is NOT A SOLUTION; it’s a problem that will just get bigger.
By promoting and establishing Permanent Drop Offs (PDO) through public sector entities throughout the nation, the U.S. would ADVANCE the recycling industry. First and foremost we could tag onto the TV waste stream, by adding computers, monitors, printers and household appliances like microwaves, VCR players and stereo equipment. Secondly we would be encouraging our cities, counties and therefore our States to have their residential communities recycle the most popular waste streams such as paper, plastic, metal cans, glass and cardboard. We already have 30% of the nation doing that through curbside recycling programs and/or permanent drop offs according the National Recycling Coalition. We could also add car batteries, tires and textiles (clothing). Finally, we would be putting the first wave of proper infrastructure in place for what is needed to ASSIST in solving the potential solid waste disaster with TVs going into land fills.
Although PDOs by themselves will not solve the entire problem, they will certainly initiate the wheel to start turning and COMPEL the legislators to consider passing legislation.
We can't stress the point enough that the FCC mandated switch to Digital TV signal has the MEDIA POWER and the PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN publicity to catapult the E-waste industry into the ECONOMIC and ENVIRONMENTAL FORCE it should be. And we will create thousands of "green" jobs, which will contribute to saving our economy and the planet.
If the U.S. and all of the industry players take advantage of the media power of this historic technology event in TV broadcasting, it will become a once in a lifetime opportunity to exponentially affect all forms of recycling.
