New TV? Here's What to Do With the Old One
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The old TV goes into the spare room "for now", and it's still there two years later. It happens in almost every house, because the moment the new one is on the wall the old one stops being urgent and starts being furniture. Deal with it in the same week and it's a ten-minute job.
First: sign out of everything
People factory-reset their phones religiously and forget the TV entirely. A smart TV holds:
- Netflix, Disney+, Stan, Prime Video, Binge and YouTube logins
- Your Wi-Fi network name and password
- Sometimes payment details attached to the TV's app store
- Voice assistant and account pairings
Do this before it leaves: sign out of each streaming app individually, run a full factory reset from the settings menu, then forget the Wi-Fi network. Signing out of apps individually matters — a reset alone doesn't always clear an active session on the provider's side. Full data-wiping guide.
Keep it out of the bin
A TV shouldn't go in your red bin. NSW has no statewide ban on binning e-waste (Victoria has one), but TVs can be recycled for free through the national scheme. What the law actually says.
It also can't go on the nature strip unless you've booked a council collection for a specific date, and some councils direct TVs to a separate e-waste stream rather than the bulky truck. Check before you put one out.
Your four options
1. Sell it or give it away — if it's a working flat panel under about eight years old
Someone will take a working smart TV. Free listings move fast. Two caveats: insist they collect it, and be realistic — a "free, pickup only" listing that nobody actually comes for means it's still in your hallway next month.
2. Council e-waste drop-off
Free for residents at most Sydney councils. You transport it yourself, hours are limited, and some sites cap or exclude large CRTs. Workable for a 40-inch panel in an estate car; not for a 75-inch.
3. Retailer take-back
Worth asking when you buy. Some retailers remove the old TV on delivery, usually for a fee and usually only as a like-for-like swap. If the answer's yes and the price is reasonable, take it — it's the least effort available.
4. Book a collection
Makes sense for large panels, old CRTs, broken screens, multiple TVs, or if you have no vehicle. We collect from the kerbside and send it to a licensed e-waste recycler. Please arrange for the TV to be safely placed outside at the kerbside before pickup; our team does not carry items from inside homes or on stairs.
CRTs are a special case
If the old TV is one of the deep, heavy box ones, a kerbside pickup can save you transporting it yourself. A 68cm CRT weighs 40–50kg, the screen contains leaded glass, it has no resale value at all, and carrying one down a flight of stairs is genuinely how people get hurt.
Big panels break easily
A 65 or 75 inch panel is light but structurally fragile. Carried flat by one edge it flexes, and the panel cracks — at which point it's definitively e-waste. Carry it upright, two people, hands at the bottom corners. If you still have the original box, use it.
What happens to it
At a licensed recycler it's dismantled by hand and streamed: circuit boards for precious metal recovery, aluminium and steel from the frame and casing, copper from wiring, plastics sorted where they can be reprocessed, and the hazardous components — leaded CRT glass, mercury backlights in older LCDs — handled separately. More on what's inside.
Do it in the same week
The practical advice: book the collection for the same week the new TV arrives. The old one is never more likely to leave than in the days when it's still sitting in the middle of the lounge room annoying you.
Frequently asked questions
Do you take broken TVs?
Yes — cracked, dead, water damaged. It's being recycled for materials.
Will you take an old CRT?
Yes, and it's one of the more common things we're called for.
Can I put a TV out for council collection?
Depends on the council — some accept them in a booked collection, others route them to e-waste drop-off. Check yours, and never put it out without a booking.
What about the soundbar, DVD player and cables?
All e-waste, all fine — they go on our $80 e-waste pickup.