Old TVs to be left on history’s scrapheap
Thursday, June 21st, 2007Obsolete models to be dumped post-switchover
Despite the environment and recycling appearing to be at the forefront of political campaigns these days, there is currently no plans for the safe collection and disposal of the huge number of incompatible TVs and VCRs that will be made redundant by the digital switchover; many are justifiably concerned about the damage that will be done the environment if the obsolete hardware is dumped en masse.
Currently, any TV set without a 21 pin SCART socket will be incapable of receiving a digital signal, with a number of reports suggest that 4 million TV sets will be abandoned with others suggesting that the figure is something closer to 5 million – however, it is estimated that roughly 2 million of these non-SCART sets will be able to be converted by an RF modulator connected either to the TV or a set-top box, in order for the digital signal to be decoded and displayed correctly.
The time-shift function of many VCRs will not work when the analogue signal is switched off. Although DVRs have been mooted to become the replacement for old VHS machines, they would be less efficient, as Steve Weller, head of communication services at uSwitch.com points out:
“VCRs won’t work in the same way after the switchover. If you go out or even go on holiday, you would have to leave your digital receiver switched on and set to the channel that you want… hardly in line with the drive to improve household energy efficiency. With 21 million video recorders in use across the UK – or about 1 per household – isn’t this something that perhaps we should have been warned about.â€
Whilst its true that the switchover will invariably make some older models of TV sets obsolete, it will not make them useless – their primary function certainly will be superseded by the digital revolution, but that does not mean than landfill sites will suddenly become choked with a sea of dead cathode ray tubes - sales of old VHS titles on eBay are going strong, and that standalone TV sets may be set aside for such things as gaming, or watching films.
Still, when politicians from all parties, but especially those whose role it is to prepare the country for the digital age, are trying their hardest to out-green each other, its telling that an environmental problem such as this one presents itself, and as of yet there are no plans to do anything about it.
