Television and computer monitor recycling plant for Australia

Australia is set to increase its recycling capacity with the introduction of the television and computer monitor recycling company, CRT Recycling Australia.

Specialised machinery is being installed at the company’s facility at Gepps Cross, South Australia, to recycle the estimated 1.5 million televisions and monitors currently ending up in landfill each year.

With the announcement of additional free-to-air channels in 2009 which will only operate on digital transmission, and the July 2010 analog switch-off in country areas, it is highly likely that there will be a significant number of cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions being deposited to landfill.

CRT televisions and monitors are the leading cause of lead presence in municipal waste streams. Every tube can contain up to 4 kg of lead in addition to other very toxic materials such as mercury, cadmium and arsenic. Lead has only harmful effects on our health, and each time we are exposed to it, some of it is stored in our bodies for the rest of our lives.

Today, the use of lead in household paint, petrol and the manufacture of hundreds of other products has been phased out and many countries/states have banned CRT television and computer screens from landfill, or only permit them in specially designated hazardous waste landfill sites.

Michelle Morton, founder of the company, said, “This service is going to allow Australia to catch up with the rest of the world. It has the capacity to divert large amounts of hazardous materials into a product that is in high demand for glass-to-glass recycling applications; it should no longer be acceptable for landfill to be an available option.”