New technology means your old television may soon be obsolete.
High definition televisions are a hot item these days - as people get ready for 2011, when cable and satellite providers will be forced to switch to digital signals.
But in with the new means out with old, and throwing out your television has an environmental impact.
At Syrotech Industries, staff cleans up and recycles old computers.
Now Tom Syrota is adding old televisions to the list.
"The tubes have lead in them, phosphorous and a number of chemicals," he told CTV Consumerwatch reporter Eleanor Coopsammy. "When the tube implodes, all that leaches into the ground water and becomes poisonous."
Syrota estimates he took in more than 800 televisions last year and he expects that number to double this year.
Depending on the size of your television, here's how much it will cost:
- 20"- 25" - $20
- 25" - 27" - $25
- 27" - 36" - $30
- 36" plus - $50
The charge is to handle packaging and shipping to recycling plants in Ontario.
Manitoba is currently looking at how other provinces handle electronic waste.
Alberta's program has already collected and recycled more than 165,000 televisions
It also charges consumers a fee up front when they buy a new TV that is meant to cover the cost of recycling later on.
It's not known right now just how many televisions end up in Manitoba landfills.
The provincial government doesn't keep track.
But the federal government estimates more than 140,000 tonnes of electronic waste, including televisions, ends up in Canadian landfills each year.
That is the equivalent of 28,000 adult African elephants.
With a story from CTV's Eleanor Coopsammy
