COUNCIL URGES CAUTION OVER DIGITAL TV SWITCH

Residents of Argyll and Bute have been urged not to make the mistake of throwing away their analogue televisions unnecessarily.

The advice was issued after the Council was contacted by several residents, concerned that the switch-over to digital television would leave their old sets redundant.

In fact, the vast majority of televisions can be converted to digital easily and with minimal cost.

The authority has recently seen a significant increase in the amount of electrical items being taken to amenity sites for recycling – much of which is thought to be analogue TVs.

In 2008/09, 840 tonnes of electrical goods were recycled from Argyll and Bute. In the current year, that figure is estimated to rise by some 12% to about 940 tonnes.

Chair of Argyll and Bute’s Environment Policy and Performance Group, Councillor Donald Macdonald, said it was an issue over which there seemed to be some confusion.

“There are many people out there who believe that they have to replace their analogue TVs with new digital models in order to be able to receive digital transmissions,” he added.

“This is not true. With very rare exceptions, all TVs can be converted to digital with a digital box – even black and white models.

“So there is no need to buy a new TV unless you actually want one. That’s the message that we need to get out, as there seem to be people who are forking out quite unnecessarily for new television sets."

Most television sets can be converted using a digital set-top box, available from about £20.

The majority of these boxes connect to a TV using a SCART cable (which will give the best-quality connection). If your television was manufactured after 1996, it will have a SCART socket.

Anyone who does not have a SCART socket on the back of their TV, and has only a small round aerial socket instead, can still adapt it for digital.

All they need to ensure is that they ask for a digital box with a built in “RF modulator”. This will be able to be plugged into the TV’s aerial socket (although consumers should be aware that the signal will not be as good as it would have been through a SCART socket).

Unfortunately, either a SCART socket or an aerial socket must be present to permit conversion to receive digital television.

Any resident who does decide to get a new TV should make sure it carries the ‘digital tick’. The ‘digital tick’ means that it is designed to continue working after the switchover.

Please note:

Redundant electrical goods such as TVs are covered by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations. These were introduced by the UK Government as a result of an EU Directive to ensure more electrical items are recycled.
The WEEE regulations place some responsibility on producers and sellers of electrical goods (including TVs) to take back old items for recycling.

The Government introduced this in the UK by giving electronic goods companies the choice of either paying into a central compliance scheme – whereby a compliance scheme company arranges with various individual councils to collect the items from a civic amenity site and then transport them onwards for recycling free of charge - or setting up their own such scheme.

This scheme is for householders only. Businesses are not able to recycle electrical equipment in this way.

Under the regulations, businesses must make their own arrangements with a suitable compliant WEEE recovery company.

Businesses should also ask the companies from which they are buying their new televisions whether or not they will take the old ones in return.