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| Home > Resources > Glass > CRTs |
Problem Glass - Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs)As the amount of electronic waste continues to rise, a new glass recycling problem is emerging. Cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) are used in computer monitors and TVs. Lead, mercury, cadmium and phosphorous are just a handful of the many toxic elements found within a CRT. Larger CRTs can contain up to 5 lbs of lead. Lead is used to make a clearer picture and to provide a shield from the radiation inside the monitor. Plus, the lead is a contaminant in regular glass recycling, so CRTs can't be included with normal glass collections. CRT glass can be processed for use in making new CRTs. This is difficult because of the exacting specifications that new CRT makers require to make new units. The largest CRT reclaimers are Dlubak Glass (Upper Sandusky, OH) and Envirocycle (Hallstead, PA). Most of the Canadian CRTs end up in one or another of these plants. The processed glass is used to make new CRTs by various firms in the U.S. One possible problem, noted in the February issue of Resource Recycling magazine, is that the trend in CRT manufacturing is to move offshore, which would be the end of the CRT-to-CRT recycling market. CRTs are also used by lead smelters who recover the lead. One of the biggest is Noranda's Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. They recover lead and many other metals from electronic equipment. See the February issue of Resource Recycling for other possible uses for CRT glass. Backing up the 3Rs hierarchy, the best local use for CRTs at the moment is re-use. There are businesses and non-profit organizations that re-furbish and sell or give away monitors. This is the best way to avoid a tricky glass recycling issue. (Source: WasteWatch, March 2003)
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