How to get rid of an old TV in Cleveland

The short answer

The City of Cleveland does not collect TVs at the curb. E-waste goes to a drop-off only. Shaker Heights also excludes e-waste from bulk pickup. Your options are a drop-off, a retailer or electronics recycler, or a pickup: $62 for a TV under 42 inches, $68 for 42 to 65 inches, $73 for 65 inches and up. Because the order minimum is $100, most people pair a TV with the stand or another item.

Why TVs are not bulk items

A TV is electronics, not furniture. Old tube TVs contain leaded glass, and flat screens contain circuit boards and other components that are better recovered than buried. Cleveland handles e-waste through drop-off only, and the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District publishes guidance on electronics and TV recycling.

So a TV on the tree lawn during bulk week is not a valid set-out. It will not be collected with your furniture.

The Cleveland basement TV

The most common TV job in Cleveland is not the flat screen on the living room wall. It is the old tube TV in the basement or the attic that nobody has moved in fifteen years.

Tube TVs are heavy for their size, the weight sits up front, and basement stairs in old Cleveland houses are steep. A 32-inch tube set is a two-person carry. If it is on the third floor of a Cleveland Heights house, that is a long way down.

The price does not change with weight or stairs. Under 42 inches is $62 whether it is a slim flat screen or a heavy tube set in the basement.

Where old TVs pile up around Cleveland

• Estates in the Heights and Glenville. Big early-1900s houses often have a TV in every era: a console set in the basement, a tube TV in a bedroom, a flat screen in the living room.
• Move-outs around the universities. CWRU has 12,475 students, and Cleveland State, John Carroll and Baldwin Wallace add more. TVs that came with a first apartment rarely go with the second.
• Doubles between tenants. A TV left in the upstairs unit of a Detroit–Shoreway or Clark–Fulton double has to come down a narrow stair, and it can't go on the tree lawn.
• Downtown towers. In Warehouse District lofts, the TV is usually wall-mounted and the building wants a COI before anyone uses the freight elevator.

Your options

Drop it off

The City handles e-waste at drop-off. Check the City's waste collection page for current e-waste drop-off details before you go, and check the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District's electronics guidance if you live in a suburb.

Retailer take-back

Some electronics retailers accept old TVs, sometimes with size limits or a fee. Call first.

Sell or give away

A working flat screen with its remote and stand will often find a taker. A tube TV almost never will.

Pickup

Carried out from any room, any floor. Disposal included.

TV and electronics prices

Making the $100 minimum work

Every TV on the list is under $100, so the order minimum applies to a TV on its own. Combining is the sensible move:

• TV 42-65" + its TV stand: $68 + $96 = $164.
• Two TVs, one small and one medium: $62 + $68 = $130.
• Old tube TV + stereo + box of cables and remotes: $62 + $52 + $77 = $191.
• Big screen + soundbar speakers: $73 + $57 = $130.
• Basement TV + old recliner in front of it: $62 + $98 = $160.

A full estate example: three tube TVs from the basement, a bedroom and the attic, plus the old entertainment center: $62 + $62 + $62 + $96 = $282.

The drop-off, honestly costed

Dropping off a TV yourself is free or close to it. The work is getting it there:

1. Find the current drop-off on the City's waste page, or your suburb's, and check the hours.
2. Get the TV out of the house. For a tube set in a basement, that's two people and a careful lift up a steep stair.
3. Fit it in a vehicle. A 32-inch tube TV is deep and front-heavy. Lay a blanket down, wedge it so it can't tip, and keep it face-up.
4. Unload it at the site.

For one light flat screen and a free afternoon, that's an easy job. For a heavy set two floors down, the $62 pickup earns its keep.

Before pickup

• Unmount it, or leave it. If it is wall-mounted and you can safely take it down, do. If not, tell us when you book.
• Wipe your accounts. Smart TVs store streaming logins. Do a factory reset, and sign out of any streaming box or game console going with it.
• Gather cables and remotes into one box so they leave with the TV.

Pick items on the instant quote, choose a 2-hour window, any day 8am to midnight. Book by 4 PM for same-day. We recycle whatever we can.

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