With deep holiday discounts enticing many to upgrade their television sets, some people may have an extra one they're looking to get rid of.
Television donations spike in January as people get settled with their new purchase, said Pam Boyer-Pfersdorf of the local non-profit World Care.
World Care, at 3538 E. Ellington Place near East 22nd Street and South Dodge Boulevard, accepts both working and non-working TVs, Boyer-Pfersdorf said.
Working TVs are sold at thrift stores or donated to schools and other organizations that need them, officials with charity groups said. But getting rid of those that don't work is more difficult.
Televisions are laden with environmentally hazardous materials, so recycling them is difficult, said Becki Quintero, the recycling education coordinator for Tucson Clean & Beautiful Inc..
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And just taking a TV to the dump isn't a good idea, Quintero said.
"We don't really want to tell people to put them in the landfill because if it breaks, there is lead contained in the glass," she said.
Los Reales Landfill, 5300 E. Los Reales Road, has a special collection area for computers and electronics. TVs dropped off there end up at Pima Computer Recycling, which also accepts working and non-working sets from individuals.
But Pima Computer Recycling, which will change its name to Rise Computer Equipment this month, hasn't been able to get rid of all the TVs it's already accumulated, said general manager Eva Macias.
A pile of the sets sits outside the non-profit at 1134 S. Park Ave. because recycling the TVs is costly and regulated strictly by the Environmental Protection Agency.
"Right now we're not doing anything with them," Macias said. "We do have a company that is taking some of them."
Pima Computer Recycling is working with vendors to find someone to take the additional TVs off its hands, Macias said.
World Care, on the other hand, works with the Vermont-based recycling company American Retroworks Inc.. The tubes get piled onto tractor-trailers and hauled to a factory in northern Sonora, where they get refurbished or dismantled for recycling.
Dropping off the defunct TVs at World Care isn't free though, Boyer-Pfersdorf said. The charity passes along the recycling fee, which can reach $35 depending on the size of the set, to the person who drops it off, she said.
Pima Computer Recycling — because it has a contract with the city to recycle the TVs that get dropped off at the landfill — doesn't charge people who drop off their sets.
Even though it hasn't gotten rid of all the TVs, Macias said, the non-profit would accept more sets from the public. After all, if people don't know what to do with them, they may drop them off in an alley or dump them in the desert.
"It's better than having them out there polluting," Macias said.
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Where to take your television set or other used electronics:
• World Care, 514-1588, 3538 E. Ellington Place. Along with other electronics, World Care accepts working and non-working TV sets, but there is up to a $35 recycling fee for the non-working ones.
• Los Reales Landfill, 791-5151, 5300 E. Los Reales Road. Accepts working and non-working televisions, computers and other electronics at its CABOP (computers, antifreeze, batteries, oil, paint) center.
• Beacon Group accepts working electronics at its Value Village locations — 300 N. Fourth Ave., 624-3414, and 2700 N. Stone Ave., 792-1454. Or call 622-5263 for pickup of large items.
• Pima Computer Recycling (soon to become Rise Computer Equipment), 623-7162, 1134 S. Park Ave. Accepts working and non-working TVs and other electronics.