WASHINGTON — As new high-definition televisions fly off store shelves, millions of old sets soon could be flying into the trash.
A major change to broadcast television in 2009 -- the conversion from analog signals to all digital -- is expected to send many Americans to the store for new TV sets. That could mean a flood of outdated TVs, which contain lead-encased picture tubes and other hazardous material, heading into landfills.
"There's going to be an e-waste tsunami that hits America," said John S. Shegerian, chief executive of Electronic Recyclers in Fresno, the state's largest electronics recycler.
Lawmakers and environmentalists already are concerned about the amount of technology waste -- old laptops, iPods, printers and other gear -- in dumps.
So far, TVs have been less likely to end up in landfills than other electronics, recycling experts say. Although cellphones, computers and other gadgets generally get thrown out or given away when people upgrade, TVs tend to hang around the house if they're still working. They're used to play video games or to watch DVDs, or they get plugged into the cable system or hooked up to rabbit ears to serve as an extra set.
The latest U.S. Census figures indicate that the average household had 2.5 television sets in 2004, a 25% increase since 1990. In all, there were 268 million TV sets.
"There's a lot of different uses," said Parker Brugge, environmental counsel for the Consumer Electronics Assn. "That's why the number of televisions in consumers' households keeps going up."
But the calculus that leads Americans to hang on to old TVs could change on Feb. 18, 2009.
That's the day a federal law will require all TV stations to turn off their analog signals and start broadcasting only in digital.
Tens of millions of old analog TVs will need to be hooked up to a cable or satellite box, or fitted with a special converter, to display the new signals.
"That conversion is going to trigger the reality that even if it's working, even if I turn it on and the screen lights up, this is a device that's incompatible with the current technology," said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste, a Sacramento-based environmental group focused on recycling.
"I do think we'll see a wave of new discards."
How big a wave is unclear, with the conversion date still nearly two years away. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has not made any projections, and the California Integrated Waste Management Board is studying the issue.
