It might look like just an old TV, but it contains all the ingredients for an environmental time bomb

ALONG with the ubiquitous broken armchairs and old mattresses, millions of unwanted televisions are now jostling for footpath space on hard-waste collection days.

But unlike most other discarded household goods, these televisions - many of which are still working but have been superseded by high-definition flat-screens - are loaded with toxic chemicals that, once dumped in landfill, become an environmental time bomb.