Ipswich dumping 150 TV sets a day ahead of big switch

UP TO 150 televisions are being dumped each day as Ipswich prepares to make the switch from analog to digital reception next month.

Riverview Recycling and Refuse Centre has been inundated with a record number of TVs, many in working order, in the lead-up to the digital switchover on May 28.

Dump supervisor Paul Schonhagen said he expected those numbers to "quadruple" within the next six weeks as people swapped their old analog boxes for digital options.

"We're getting about 100 to 150 per day," he said.

"We get a lot of flat screens, most of them are damaged, but 90% of the TVs here would work."

Mr Schonhagen said dumped TVs were stripped of recyclable components, gold and silver, while the rest went into landfill.

Harvey Norman Ipswich electrical franchisee Paul Hellmund said television sales had spiked in the past few weeks as people prepared for the switch.

"We would turn over about 10 to 15 televisions per day, but we are selling half of that again with the switchover," he said.

Residents can watch digital TV by either buying a new television set or plugging in a set top box to an analog television.

"Depending on how old you TV is, if you have a newer flat screen it is quite easy to install a set top box - you will just have two remotes," Mr Hellmund said.

"But if it's an old one, the price of TVs have come down so much you can pick up an 81cm for about $300."

The analog signal, beamed from Mt Coot-tha to 1.1 million homes in Ipswich and south-east Queensland, has supplied the city with its TV needs since the 1960s.

The Federal Government digital television tracker found that by September last year 93% of Brisbane households had converted to digital television.

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy said once the Brisbane switchover is complete, over 4.7 million households in Australia would have made the switch to digital-only TV.

The rest of Australia will make the historic transition by the end of 2013.

He said people replacing their TV should make sure they dispose of their old equipment responsibly.

The centre receives 100 tonnes of e-waste each year.

Go to digitalready.gov.au for more information.