The Consumer Electronics Association and the Institute of
Scrap Recycling Industries has announced a second CRT Glass re-use challenge.
The idea is to find an environmentally friendly use for all
the glass from cathode ray tube TVs and monitors being replaced by plasma, LDC
and LED screens.
Among the winners in the first challenge two years ago was
the idea of combining the leaded CRT glass with cement to create tiles and
bricks that could be used where lead shielding is needed -- X-ray rooms, for
example. But the need for new solutions is growing, since the previously most popular
re-use -- into new CRTs--is declining thanks to the new monitor technologies.
"[M]ore than two billion pounds, or a thousand tons, of
legacy CRT TVs and monitors are expected to enter the recycling stream,"
said CEA in announcing the new challenge. "And with demand for old CRT
glass to make new CRT glass waning, there is an increased need for new
environmentally-sound, economically sustainable uses for this material."
The new challenge offers $10,000 for the best
new idea. Submissions are due by June 30 and can be sent to innocentive.com/ar/challenge/9933317.
