Digital Fallout: Cathode ray tubes, lead, and where to take that bulky TV set…
Last week, we drafted a post about the switchover to the digital signal and the impact on America's estimated 219 million television sets, of which 2.8 million households are completely unready for the transition.
As a business, we know from the number of armoire conversions we've completed for hospitality clients in the past 3 years and the thousands of units we've transformed and saved from the landfill, that this is much broader than a consumer problem – with every guest room in America's hotels, casinos and motels housing a television set, this is a real challenge for the hospitality industry.
Although the challenge to prepare for the switchover may have been different for these groups, there is one common problem now for those that have decided to invest in new digital sets – just how to disperse of old television sets easily, cost-effectively and of course in an environmentally-friendly way. It's no surprise to learn that television sets are not built with the environment in mind: even just the cathode ray tubes contain several pounds of highly toxic lead. Recycling is essential to prevent this from entering the environment.
TV manufacturers are making moves in the right direction. From Sony and LG which have recycling programs managed by recycling firm Waste Management, to group efforts supported by the likes of Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba, there is a consensus in the industry that there need to be recycling programs in place. It's estimated that at present around 20 percent of televisions are recycled – the rest heading to landfills. So with the switchover, there could be a wave of abandoned TVs.
We're going to be conducting a survey among consumers and the hospitality industry to see if they are disposing of analog television sets, and just where they think the responsibility should lie: with them as the owners - or with manufacturers, local government, federal government or retailers. Or even the commercial TV networks.
We'll be linking this survey to our website over the next few weeks, so if you'd like to participate please keep reading. We'll be sharing our results in the next month or so.
Meanwhile, if you are getting rid of your old set, make sure you are recycling it and that you do so through a socially-responsive organization.
Millions of Americans had blank television screens on Friday after US television broadcast stations switched from analogue to digital programming.
Here at the Refinishing Touch we have a strong interest in the switchover and have blogged about it in the past. So we've kept a close eye on how America has reacted to the big switchover. It's not been smooth everywhere, despite US authorities spending around two billion dollars on TV ads and other communications to get people prepared.
Consumers were given three options to ensure their TVs still worked after the transition. They could (1) Buy a digital to analogue converter box and connect it to their analogue television; (2) Buy a digital television or (3) Subscribe to a paid TV service.
It would seem the most popular solution has been the cheapest, with people buying a new converter box for a one-off fee of around $60. To help with the cost of the box, the government offered (and is still offering) two $40 coupons to each US household towards the cost.
The government has also been promoting the benefits of the digital TV transition in the hope that people will accept the change much quicker. Unfortunately, many people did not listen to the government's advice, failed to claim their free coupons, and were left without a working television: if you're one of these and are staring at a blank TV screen then we'd suggest you check out www.dtv.gov.
There's an interesting element here as although 'technically' there's no need for people to buy new televisions - analogue sets will work for years with devices such as DVD players, VCRs and video games consoles - digital TV offers a range of benefits including improved picture and sound quality, multiple programming choices and interactive video and data services.
