From CRT to flat displays - Consequences for collection and recycling

Since the introduction of flat displays onto the market, the sales of CRT-displays have been quickly decreasing in Europe. The consequences of this technology change on the present and future waste streams were modeled. The generation of waste CRT televisions is expected to remain constant until approximately 2013, to decrease to the half of the present generation by 2020, and to become insignificant by 2030. Significant amounts of waste flat displays will be discarded only from 2017 onward. Around one third of the waste displays collected in Germany are currently treated outside of Germany, mainly using recycling processes that cause serious hazards to human health and the environment. A comparison of the expected generation of waste displays and the reported amounts of collected displays shows that some European countries established efficient collection systems, whereas other countries have a very insufficient infrastructure to collect the displays and bring them to appropriate recycling processes.