Goodwill Probably Doesn’t Want Your Old TV

Some Goodwill locations are no longer accepting donations of televisions people no longer want.

Nobody wants an old TV, and they’re getting too expensive to recycle, multiple news reports say.

Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania has already received more than 20,000 TVs this year and exceeded the 1.5 million pounds the recycler allows, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says. On top of that, they have a backlog of boxed-up TVs waiting to be recycled — but it would cost them $125,000 to do so.

Pennsylvania is one of about 20 states that prevent TVs from going to landfills, the paper says. Trash collectors won’t pick them up, and it’s up to the consumer to find a place to recycle them.

Some Goodwill locations in Iowa are no longer accepting TVs either, The Daily Iowan says. “Taking the TVs was actually part of the mission to help clients,” Iowa City Goodwill employee Willie Johnson told the paper. “The turnover was too great for us, and we were spending more money to recycle them as opposed to selling them.”

Locations in three counties of Connecticut — New Haven, Middlesex and New London — will also stop accepting old TVs Aug. 1. It takes 40 to 60 hours to load and deliver a full truckload of TVs and other electronics, a Goodwill representative told MyRecordJournal.com.

The national Goodwill website doesn’t seem to mention a prohibition on TVs anywhere, but it’s likely more locations will eventually stop accepting them. One place to try getting rid of an old TV is your local electronics store, which may have a recycling program you can use — or can suggest one — even if you don’t buy a new set from them. Smaller consignment and thrift shops may also take them off your hands.