Minimising the Environmental Impact of LCDs

Glass Technology Services Ltd (GTS) is currently involved in a new DTI-funded research project concerning the recycling of liquid crystal displays (LCDs).

The popularity of LCDs is growing, with many people now choosing LCD over traditional cathode ray tube (CRT)  screens and displays. This is due to the popularity for flat screen televisions rising and consumer prices falling. Some 40 million LCD television sets were sold worldwide last year, with expected sales likely to top 100 million by 2009. On top of that LCDs are found in other electronic gadgets including calculators and mobile phones.

Many early generations LCDs are already ending up in the waste stream and the amount of LCD waste is expected to increase rapidly in the coming years. Glass is a major component of LCDs with each display consisting of two glass sheets sandwiching a thin film of liquid crystal.

GTS is investigating how LCD glass can be recycled both cleanly and efficiently to minimise the impact of LCDs on the waste stream, working in collaboration with many project partners headed up by C-Tech Innovation Limited.