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<br />~ <br /> <br /> <br />A Growing Problem: <br />Discarded TVs and Computers <br /> <br />..:',,-;''''. <br /> <br />TVs and computer <br />monitors contain 'lead <br /> <br />New Technologies <br />= more obsolete <br />units discarded <br /> <br />Old TVs <br />and computer <br />monitors should be <br />recycled <br /> <br />Currently, recycling <br />options for residents <br />are not adequate <br /> <br />l <br /> <br />, Would YOlf throw 2 pounds of lead in your garbage? Probably not: <br />. Yet when someone disposes of a TV or computer monitor in the garbag,e, they <br />. , <br />do just that <br />. Ns and computer monitors can contain from 2 to 8 pounds of lead as well as <br />mercury, cadmium and PCBs. Ns and computer monitors are considered the largest <br />single source of lead in Minnesota's garbage. <br />Lead and other heavy metals can cause damage to health and the environment. According to the Minnesota <br />Department of Health, lead poisoning can cause learhing, behavioral and health problems in young chffdren <br />and high blOQd pressure, kidney damage and damage to' the reproductive organs In adults. <br /> <br />There are a lot of TVs and computer monitors in Minnesota homes that people will <br />want to get rid of eventually. <br />. More than 3.5 million TVs are in Minnesota homes today, and another 2.0 million <br />computer monitors are in Minnesota homes and businesses. Changes in technology <br />such as digital broadcast television and flat screens shorten the u:efullives of <br />electronic deVices and promise to increase the amount of electrcmic$lhat will be <br />discarded in the future. <br /> <br />If not in the garbage can, where should old lYs and com puler monitors go? <br />. These wastes do !2Qt belong in the garbage with other mixed wastes. In the 2003 <br />session, the State Legislature prohibited the disposal of cathode ray tubes found in <br />Ns and computer monitors in mixed wastes, effective July 1, 2005. Discarded Ns <br />and computer monitors can and should be recycled. Nearly all of the component <br />parts, including the iead and glass, can be recycled or recovered. <br />. In 2002, news of shipment of old Ns and computers to countries such as China <br />became widely known, Oid electronic equipment from the U.S. was being broken <br />down in unsafe conditions and seriously contaminated local waters. We need to work <br />hard to be sure that this method of disposal of our wastes does not happen. (For <br />more information, go to www. http://www.computertakeback.com) <br /> <br />It's not easy at this tim'e for Minnesota residents to get their discarded electronics <br />recycled, <br />While residents frequently store old TVs and monitors after they are no longer <br />useful, there comes a point in time when these items become a nuisance. <br />. . Many ~aste haulersdo not pick .uP T.V~and comp.uter monitors, and. those who dc' "'-'"'. <br /><:<ften charge a fee. <br />. Recycling options that exist are not aiways conveniently iocated or open at times that <br />are convenient for residents. <br /> <br />. Recyclers that take old TVs and computer monitors charge fees that some residents <br />consider too expensive. <br />