By Jane Luscombe
In just over a year's time hundreds of thousands of TV sets will no longer work when the switch to digital broadcasting begins.
But thousands are already being ditched.
Many bulky old TV sets have lived through a few Rugby World Cups, but this year's could have proved their downfall. Waste recycling expert Jon Thornhill reckons many are being ditched in favour of high definition flat screens.
"We've seen a huge increase in probably the last six months," he says. "We're handling thousands of TVs now."
The Government's spent $400,000 on centres to encourage recycling instead of dumping. The only drawback is you have to pay in most places. In Albany, for example, it costs $20.
Green co-leader Russel Norman says that puts many off. He wants retailers also to act as collection points, paid for by a small charge on new TVs.
"If people don't have an easy way to do it we all know what's going to happen," he says. "They're going to end up shoved down banks and end up in landfills all over the country."
Mr Thornhill expects the number of unwanted sets to grow even more when the country switches to digital broadcasting next year.
Old analogue TVs won't work in their current state, but that doesn't mean you have to get rid of them.
The Government's urging people to hang onto them and buy a Freeview box, which will plug in the back and allow them to receive digital signals.
The digital switchover won't happen until September next year when it will be phased in, starting with Hawke's Bay and the West Coast. So there's still plenty of time to decide what to do with your old TV.
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