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If you just purchased a new flat screen LCD/Plasma TV and are looking for a way to get rid of your old CRT TV, here are a few ways.

The obvious and probably the most easiest way is to just throw it away at your local landfill.  Easy enough for some but what about the people who live where its illegal to do that.

Well here are a few ways to legally get rid of it:

1. Check the Electronic Takeback Coalition‘s comprehensive chart of E-Waste laws and pending legislation by state. There’s also a chart comparing what can be recycled in each state, and a detailed description of each law. (pdf links)

    

2. Find listings of local e-waste collection sites at E-Cycling Central and Mygreenelectronics. Many are municipal facilities that will only accept waste from that city or town’s residents, but private e-cyclers and others are listed as well. Other helpful information services are listed here.

    

3. Look for hazardous waste collection days in your community. Many cities and towns sponsor these for their residents to dispose of electronics, appliances and household chemicals, through recycling companies.

    

4. Check with TV and electronics manufacturers on their programs. There are listings of these services at Mygreenelectronics and Green Electronics.com. Sony has free take-back sites throughout the country. MRM, a joint venture between Panasonic, Toshiba and Sharp, offers 250 locations for recycling and is adding more. Samsung has a program for Samsung products (takeback of other brands are charged a fee.) Others, like Dell and Apple, offer free recycling with the purchase of a new product. HP and others have trade-in programs.

    

5. Some retail stores offer recycling programs, though many come with shopping incentive caveats. Best Buy will now take many electronics at all its U.S. retail stores, though there is a $10 charge for TVs 32 inches and under, CRTs, monitors and laptops, offset by $10 Best Buy gift card. Office Depot is offering free recycling with Zip Express service. And Staples frequently runs recycling promotions.

    

6. You can ensure a TV or other device will be recycled or reused when you purchase it, through TechForward’s buy-back program that locks in a value for your product upon its purchase and depending on how long you keep it. The product is then resold, reused or recycled responsibly.

Then again, you could aways keep it for a spare or use it as a second monitor.