What about TVs…and other stuff!
I apologize for the hiatus in posting. I’ve been distracted by turkey, a crashed computer (yes, I will be recycling my old computer through The 4th Bin) and a few sleepless nights (a 3 month old baby will do that).
My last post pretty much summed up where we are currently sending computer related equipment. While this solution allows us to meet the highest recycling standards, we will continue to negotiate with other organizations that follow these standards in the hopes of coming to better financial arrangements. Remember - The 4th Bin makes it’s money on the back-end - not by charging you, our clients, to pick up your e-waste. Therefore, we need to maximize the potential value of collected equipment.
Anyway, having a reliable outlet for computer equipment has allowed me to focus on two very important issues. First, how to handle TVs. Second, marketing (see my next post).
Ah…TVs. Along with CRT monitors, TVs pose one of the biggest issues to the recycling industry. Tube TVs (and CRT monitors) have become outdated as a result of the flat screen plasma and LCD versions. As prices on the new equipment decrease, demand for the old equipment also decreases. As a result, no one wants the old tube TVs. Therefore, no resale value. And little value (pennies on the dollar) in components that are extracted from processing. As a result, many TVs are dumped and end up in landfills. And the bigger problem is that these TVs contain some of the more dangerous, toxic chemicals.
Clearly, dumping and “landfilling” are not an option. So what will happen with a TV given to the 4th Bin? I can, without a doubt, say that they will be processed responsibly. At this point, I cannot tell you exactly who will be doing it. All waste management companies will charge The 4th Bin a fee to recycle a TV. The cost to process the TV outweighs any value on the extracted components. And since our mission is to make e-waste recycling simple and inexpensive for the consumer, we are forced to aggressively negotiate the best deal. And that is what we are currently doing. We are in discussions with several top tier recycling companies with the hopes of negotiating the lowest possible cost to recycle these TVs.
For now, all TVs are stored in The 4th Bin’s storage facility while we work out this issue. Fortunately, we haven’t begun targeting, and marketing to, the residential community and have not taken in many TVs. We are simply being proactive.
Then again, we may see our TV inventory increase dramatically in the near future. Our marketing team is in the process of announcing the new free e-waste pickup campaign for both organizations and residents (scheduled to begin in January 2010). As I said…see my next post for the marketing plans.
-md
