Rubbish skips and PC screens!

[BlogOnTheTyne]

Wasn't sure what section to put this one in but will try here first. We've got a skip coming to clear some of the masses of clutter and rubbish from the garage. The website for the skip company says you can't put screens like TVs and VDUs etc - in the skip.

However, the person on the 'phone said that if the screen is broken, then you CAN put the monitor into the skip but they can't actually tell me, in so many words, to smash the screen myself because that would be dangerous.

It seems therefore that you CAN include VDUs etc but have to crack the screen first. Is this dangerous? Will it release toxic gas, as the person on the 'phone suggested? How easy is it to smash the screen of an old PC - those huge ones they had before flat screens?

I'd welcome any advice please as we have about 5 old but intact PC VDUs to dump.

Can't you just take them to your local dump/waste disposal centre to be disposed of properly?

Not possible, Hazel. Can't fit DCs in car plus the 5 VDUs - tiny car and nowhere else to leave DCs tomorrow which is the only day off work that I've got to clear the garage singlehandedly and the skip arrives at 6.30am! That's why I'm paying for a skip to do the whole lot in on go.

Does anyone else know if cracking a VDU screen will be dangerous and also if it's difficult to do this (never smashed a screen before!)?

Is it the old sort, i.e. a CRT monitor?

If so, I believe you really, really don't want to smash that, particularly if you're in sole charge of children with no-one to look after them and take you to A&E should something go wrong. (I may be wrong here, of course, and they may be fine to smash.)

I'm afraid you either need to make multiple trips to the tip or get someone to babysit the children.

CRT screens, which I assume is what you're talking about, don't contain toxic gas. They contain nothing at all... a vacuum and that's the problem. If you crack it the unit can implode sending fragments of glass and electrical components flying. There are videos of You Tube showing people smashing them.

I can't recommend you smash them and would suggest you don't but it can be done safely.

Oh dear! Thanks for the feedback. I don't think I'll risk it then. The skip company seemed to imply that everyone does it and then the company is allowed to take away the screens but it sounds like a risk not worth taking...

I have no idea exactly what sort of VDUs they are except that they're the big cuboid ones from PCs dating back about 5 to 6 years now. Does that sound like the ones that implode?

A round trip to the nearest tip will take about 1.25 hrs and I can only get one VDU in the car at a time I think, plus DCs. No babysitter to call on....

Better rethink this.....

I googled "smash crt", it doesn't look like a good idea. However I came across an ad for this lot, any use to you OP?

They're CRT screens so yes, they will implode.

If it's just a VDU screen, which is not at all heavy, surely you can take it to the council tip by car or bus? they will have a stack of them.

The CRT screens contain fluorescing coatings which IIRC are hazardous to health, quite apart from the flying fragments of glass.

Local councils are usually willing to collect large or awkward items for the disabled or pensioners, for a fee. I don't know typical charges. They might do it for you.

btw you will not be able to smash the front glass of a CRT, as it is thick and armoured to prevent fragments hitting you if it breaks.