CEA: DTV Will Have Minimal Environment Impact
Consumers Plans to Recycle, Not Throw Out, Old Analog TVs
By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/2/2008 10:19:00 AM
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, the digital-TV transition won’t have a dire impact on the environment from consumers junking their old analog-TV sets.
The CEA’s recent study, “Trends in Consumer Electronics (CE) Afterlife,” indicated that households that currently rely on over-the-air analog-television signals that will be turned off come February 2009 are likely to remove fewer than 15 million televisions from their homes through 2010, 95% of which will be sold, donated or recycled.
According to the CEA, 48% of over-the-air-only households expect to buy digital-converter boxes and continue using the same TVs.
“Consumers are far more likely to recycle, reuse, give away or sell analog TVs than throw them away,” CEA senior director of market research Tim Herbert said in a statement. “While some have speculated that millions of TVs would enter the waste stream, this new study suggests that is not the case.”
The survey found that consumers are recycling almost 30% more TVs in 2007 than in 2005 and that 87% of consumers overall said it’s important to recycle their CE devices.
Among those consumers who did report throwing away a TV in the past year, 42% reported that they weren’t aware of recycling programs for electronics.
Major TV-set manufacturers like Sony, Sharp and Panasonic have all announced recycling programs in the past year that will take care of old TVs either free-of-charge or for a small fee. The CEA also set up a Web site to educate consumers about electronics recycling, which includes a ZIP-code-searchable database of electronics recyclers.
“It’s terrific to see more consumers being more thoughtful and proactive about the responsible disposal of their electronics devices,” Herbert said. “However, there is still much to be done in terms of educating consumers about the options for electronics recycling.”
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