Television and DVD Equipment

Television encourages waste through its constant stream of advertisements, urging viewers to buy the new best thing. In order to make room for new products, consumers must waste old products. Installed into people's homes where domestic decisions are made, television is the most driving force in culture encouraging the cycle of consumption and waste. However, few people stop to think about the waste of the television sets themselves or the DVD equipment once viewers have moved on to the bigger, newer, high definition (HDTV), or 3D technology. With few options for recycling, televisions and DVD equipment are often disposed of in landfills, where hazardous chemicals can leach into the soil, air, and water as well as affect workers. Some U.S. states are taking action, creating programs and initiatives aimed at consumers and manufacturers to encourage recycling. Much of the television waste is illegally traveling overseas to developing nations, causing serious environmental hazards.

In a Consumer Reports survey, consumers in the United States who replaced their televisions in the past year gave the following reasons: (1) one-third replaced a television that had stopped working, (2) one-quarter replaced a television because the screen was too small, (3) one-quarter wanted an additional television, and (4) one-fifth wanted an HDTV for higher picture quality.

These are all legitimate reasons for procuring a new television, all of which illustrate desire inherent in a culture of consumption. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 25 million televisions are disposed of in the United States each year.

Television and DVD equipment are a subset of electronic waste (e-waste). E-waste includes unwanted electronic devices that have been disposed of, such as computers, cell phones, printers, and televisions. Unwanted electronics are amassing in landfills at an alarming rate because of the rapid progression of technology and the need to replace older technological items. Television and DVD equipment are a global e-waste and environmental concern, with processing plants, recycling facilities, and landfills in developing nations filled with the TV waste from developed nations throughout the globe.

The cathode ray tube (CRT) in televisions contains five to eight pounds of lead, which can pose serious health hazards to sanitation workers and [Page 898]the air, soil, and water in and around landfills. However, people are phasing out older CRT televisions in favor of newer and lighter liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma, and light-emitting diode (LED) televisions. CRT, LCD, plasma, and LED televisions and DVD equipment can contain hazardous chemicals such as mercury, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, beryllium, and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), while also posing the environmental problem of the massive amount of nonbiodegradable plastic that is sitting in landfills.