# Can I throw old CRT monitors in the trash?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-throw-old-crt-monitors-in-the-trash/434737>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 23, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-throw-old-crt-monitors-in-the-trash/434737 "2008-01-23T23:51:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-throw-old-crt-monitors-in-the-trash/434737/1 "2008-01-23T23:51:04Z")

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I mean, obviously I _can_ throw an old CRT monitor in the trash. But should I? Are these things considered hazardous waste, to be disposed of in a special manner?

I have two CRT monitors. One of them actually caught fire while in use. The other one has a broken button effectively making it impossible to adjust the brightness, which is currently set to “extremely dark.” (It’s a long story.) The first one is obviously completely junk, and the second one is not worth my while to attempt to fix, even if it were possible to do so. They’ve been cluttering up our computer room for a few months, because MrWhatsit and I both have this vague sense that you shouldn’t just chuck these things in the dumpster. But is that true? And if I shouldn’t just toss them, where do I take them?

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2008, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-throw-old-crt-monitors-in-the-trash/434737/2 "2008-01-23T23:52:55Z")

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[QUOTE=MsWhatsit]  
The other one has a broken button effectively making it impossible to adjust the brightness, which is currently set to “extremely dark.”  
[/QUOTE]

Cool. You can use it to watch Philip K. Dick movies.

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-throw-old-crt-monitors-in-the-trash/434737/3 "2008-01-24T00:20:32Z")

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Check to see if you have a local recycling center for electronics. CRTs contain hazardous materials and there may be a law or regulation in your community that says you cannot just dump it in the trash.

I recently took three CRT computer monitors and and old console television to our local recycling center, … at the county jail work center. The recycling center will test all the CRTs. Those that work go to the Salvation Army for the Salvos to donate to needy families. Any that don’t work are dismantled and working parts recycled again. What remains is properly disposed in a hazardous waste site.

The best part is all of this is free and I got a tax receipt so I can deduct the donation on my income tax.