How to get rid of a TV in Riverside: old tube sets and flat screens

The short answer

TVs are electronic waste in California and are excluded from the City of Riverside's bulky-item pickup. Your options: Riverside County landfills accept up to two CRT (tube) devices per residential customer per day free; electronics recyclers and household hazardous waste events take flat screens; Moreno Valley, Corona and Ontario residents can use e-waste allowances in their city programs. A flat pickup with JunkRabbit is $62 for a TV under 42 inches, $68 for 42 to 65 inches and $73 for 65 inches and up, with a $100 order minimum.

Why the curb is off limits

The City of Riverside's bulky-item program lists "Televisions, Computers, Monitors, Cell Phones, Stereos" among the items it will not take. TVs contain circuit boards and, in older sets, leaded glass, so they are routed to e-waste recyclers rather than the landfill.

A TV left at the curb in Riverside is not getting collected. It will sit there until someone takes the copper out of the back and leaves the shell behind, which is exactly what the rules are trying to stop.

If you live in Moreno Valley, Corona or Ontario

Other IE cities fold e-waste into their programs:

• Moreno Valley: Waste Management offers up to four bulky and/or e-waste pickups a month, scheduled at least 24 hours ahead, at the curb by 6 am.
• Corona: each of the three yearly special collections can include up to five e-waste items alongside six bulk items. Book 48 hours ahead.
• Ontario: the bulky-item program for single-family homes accepts e-waste among its five large items per appointment.

If one of these applies, it is the obvious answer for a TV you can carry to the curb. Apartment residents in Ontario go through their property manager instead, and Rialto's program likewise sends apartments, condos and mobile-home parks to the manager.

Which TVs are leaving IE homes

The TV problem looks different depending on the house. In Arlington, the Wood Streets, San Bernardino and Redlands, where many homes were built in the 1960s and 1970s and owners have stayed for decades, the typical find is one or two heavy tube sets in the garage or a back bedroom, plus a big entertainment center built to hold them. In the 2000s tracts of Eastvale, Menifee and Murrieta, it is a large flat screen replaced by an even larger one, plus the old soundbar and a box of cables. Around UCR and in Loma Linda, students and medical residents leave smaller flat screens at lease end because moving them is more trouble than they are worth. Each case has a different best route: CRTs to a county landfill if you can lift them, flat screens to an e-waste program, and the full mix to a single pickup.

Old tube TVs (CRTs)

The heavy old sets with a picture tube are the ones that get stuck in garages for a decade. A 32-inch CRT can weigh as much as a small adult, and the tube glass contains lead, so it should not be broken or dumped.

Riverside County's landfills accept up to two CRT devices per residential customer per day free. If you can get it into a car, a trip to Badlands in Moreno Valley, Lamb Canyon in Beaumont or El Sobrante in Corona costs nothing at the gate for the CRT itself. Lift with two people, keep the screen face-down on a blanket, and do not let it slide around the cargo area.

Flat screens and projection TVs

Flat screens are lighter but awkward: wide, fragile and easy to crack. Electronics recyclers and county household hazardous waste collection events generally accept them. Check the county's Department of Waste Resources site for current events and hours before you drive.

Wall-mounted TVs need to come off the mount first. If you are moving out of a rental near UCR or downtown, do not leave the mount and the TV for the landlord; it usually comes out of the deposit.

Flat prices for TVs and electronics

Because every TV is under the $100 order minimum, a single set bills at $100. Combining makes more sense:

• A 55-inch TV and its stand: $68 + $96 = $164.
• Two TVs, one 65-inch-plus and one under 42: $73 + $62 = $135.
• An old CRT, a stereo and a box of cables from the garage: $62 + $52 + $77 = $191.
• An Arlington den with two tube sets and the entertainment center that held them: $62 + $62 + $96 = $220.

What to do before pickup

• Log out of streaming apps and factory-reset smart TVs.
• Take it off the wall, or note in your photo that it is still mounted.
• Keep the remote and power cord with it so nothing is left behind.
• Gather the rest of the e-waste. Old DVD players, game consoles and cable boxes can go in a box of electronics at $77, which is often cheaper than a second trip somewhere else.
• Upload a photo on the instant quote page. The crew carries it out from any floor, no stairs fee, and we recycle whatever we can. Same day when booked by 4 PM.

Frequently asked questions