How CEA is helping find new ways to recycle CRT glass

E-waste Recycling  |  2013-03-27 13:13:09   |   By

Based on the information released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)

Progress on issues like energy efficiency and e-recycling are the product of long-term commitments to environmental sustainability.

Take televisions, for example. Thanks to innovative manufacturing techniques and market competition, the consumer electronics industry has decreased its collective environmental footprint to produce thinner, lighter televisions that use fewer materials and less energy than their cathode ray tube (CRT) predecessors.

Market demand for old CRT glass has declined during the past few years - and many recyclers are in the progress of adjusting to this decline. One way the industry is helping to identify new CRT recycling solutions is through collaboration with like-minded organizations.

In late 2011, CEA co-sponsored the first-ever CRT Challenge with the Environmental Defense Fund a crowdsourced technical challenge to find new uses for old CRT glass. The winning solutions from the challenge resulted in ideas for new processes for separating lead from glass for use in a variety of industries, utilizing an extremely energy-efficient electrically heated furnace, and a new way to merge CRT glass with cement to create tile and bricks specifically for applications where lead shielding is required, such as X-ray and fluoroscopy rooms.

What's more, the eCycling Leadership Initiative, which was launched in 2010, had manufacturers of consumer electronics commit to recycling one billion pounds of consumer electronics responsibly by 2016. In 2011 alone, these manufacturers spent more than $100 million to responsibly recycle more than 460 million pounds of old electronics. Our commitment to producing better and more environmentally sensitive products has never been higher, nor has our industrys commitment to innovative, responsible recycling solutions.

Soon, we will announce a second CRT Challenge. Partnering with the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI), we're offering a $10,000 award to further identify financially viable, environmentally conscious proposals for utilizing recycled CRT glass from used televisions and computer monitors that have been phased out in favor of LCD, LED and plasma displays.

By utilizing collaboration and incentives, we can increase public awareness as well as develop new applications for old CRT glass and better CRT processing technologies. It's our hope that these efforts will increase the capacity of our recycling system to turn these materials into new products while reducing the need for mining natural resources.