CRTs and flat panels are both e-waste
An old picture-tube television is heavy glass and electronics. A flat panel is lighter but still a device with a circuit board and sometimes a backlight. Neither one belongs in a trash compactor or a scrap pile you mixed yourself. Call the site or an electronics recycler and ask whether they take televisions from residents, whether picture tubes are included, and whether the stand should come off. Some programs charge a separate handling line for TVs. Read the posted sheet or ask. Do not smash the screen to make the set fit a bag. Broken picture-tube glass is a disposal problem and a cut hazard.
Prepare the set without stripping it
Remove the remote batteries and take those batteries to a battery outlet. Unplug cables and recycle or trash the cords according to local rules for wire. Leave the cabinet together. Do not open a picture tube or a flat-panel backlight. Tape a cracked screen only enough to keep glass from shedding, and tell the recycler it is cracked. If the set is a built-in that came out of a cabinet, haul the wood separately as furniture or clean wood, whichever the site confirms. Wipe loose dust so you are not blowing debris across the scale.
Unload it as an appliance, not a secret
Declare the television at the gate. Staff may send you to an e-waste container that is easy to miss if you only follow trash traffic. Lift with two people. A picture tube shifts its weight strangely. Set the TV down. Do not drop it. If the site refuses electronics, ask which recycler or event takes them. Take the set home if you must. A television left beside a donation bin is not recycled, and many bins prohibit them.
Before you go
- Confirm an e-waste program that accepts your type of television.
- Remove remote batteries and loose cables, and leave the cabinet intact.
- Declare the TV at the gate and follow the e-waste direction.
- Set it down intact. If it is refused, take it back with you.
Breaking the picture tube so the television fits in a construction dumpster.
Questions people ask
Does the wood console go with the TV?
Ask. A large cabinet is furniture or wood waste, and the picture tube is e-waste. You may be asked to unload them in two places.
Can I put a flat panel in curbside recycling?
Not unless your hauler explicitly lists televisions. A flat panel is still electronics. Use the e-waste outlet you confirmed.
Search Dumpmapper by ZIP code or city, then call the site before you load the truck. Hours and accepted materials change.