Furniture & AppliancesSteve Heimsath
An old TV cannot go out with the trash in Waltham, tube set or flat screen. That leaves four routes: the city’s TV pickup, a retailer or a charity, Zero Waste Day, or paying someone to carry it out.
We are a junk removal company, so the last route is ours, and it is not always the right one. Here is how each one works in Waltham, what it costs where a price is published, and when paying for the carry makes sense.
Is It Legal to Dispose of a TV With the Trash in Waltham?
Not for a tube TV, anywhere in Massachusetts, under a MassDEP ban. And not for a flat screen in Waltham, under the City of Waltham’s own rule.
The state rule covers the tube, not the flat screen
Cathode ray tubes, the picture tubes in old TVs, are on MassDEP’s list of materials banned from disposal in Massachusetts. The regulation behind that list, 310 CMR 19.017, tells everyone to keep CRTs out of the solid waste stream, so a tube set does not belong in a trash cart or a building dumpster anywhere in the state. Flat screens are not on that list.
Waltham’s own rule adds the flat screen, inside the city line
The City of Waltham’s electronics and appliances page goes further than MassDEP’s list. It says TVs and computer monitors must be recycled, naming TVs rather than only tube sets, and it sends them to an appointment pickup, covered next. So in Waltham a flat screen stays out of the trash barrel too.
Rules change at the city line. If the screen is in a Cambridge apartment you are leaving, our Cambridge move-out post covers that city instead.
How Does Waltham’s Curbside TV Pickup Appointment Work?
It is a separate pickup, by appointment, and it only takes what is already at the curb. Capitol Waste Services, which collects Waltham’s trash, runs it, and the City of Waltham’s electronics and appliances page sets out the steps:
- Call Capitol Waste at 855-533-3400 to book. You can leave a message.
- Book 24 hours ahead of your regular trash day. The pickup happens on that day, by appointment only.
- Have the set at the curb by 7 am that day. The driver does not help carry items to the curb, so it has to be out there already.
The page lists no price for this pickup, so ask Capitol Waste about any charge when you book.
The curb is the catch: a flat screen you can carry out yourself suits this route, and a console in the basement does not. The City of Waltham’s 2026-27 recycling brochure describes this pickup as one for CRT items, though, so if yours is a flat screen, confirm it is covered when you book.
Why Is a Tube TV Harder to Recycle Than a Flat Screen?
Because of the glass. A tube TV is built around a cathode ray tube, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s page on CRTs says the tube’s funnel glass contains lead.
The same page explains why that glass is hard to place: it used to be recycled into new tubes, but demand for new CRTs collapsed as flat panels took over, and with rising costs and shifting markets for the glass, some processors and recyclers now store it instead of sending it on. So a tube set has fewer places to go.
A flat screen has no tube and no leaded funnel glass. In Waltham it still has to be recycled under the city’s rule, and Best Buy, below, takes flat panels at a larger size than tube sets.
Not sure which you have? A tube TV is deep from front to back, with a heavy box behind the screen. A flat screen is a thin panel on a stand or a wall mount.
What Do Retailers Charge to Recycle a TV Near Waltham?
Best Buy takes TVs in its stores for a fee. Its recycling page lists in-store TV recycling at $29.99 per TV, with a limit of two TVs per household per day. The sets it takes for that fee are:
- Tube TVs 31 inches and smaller
- Portable TVs
- Flat-panel LCD, plasma and LED TVs 50 inches and smaller
Of those, Insignia and Dynex sets, 50 inches and smaller, are the only ones that go free, so check the brand before you count on a free drop-off. The page’s state-by-state notes list no different terms for Massachusetts.
At Best Buy, a set bigger than those limits has to go through its haul-away service. The same page lists that at $199.99 as a standalone visit for up to two large products, or $49.99 when Geek Squad or Best Buy Home Delivery brings a replacement.
Call the store before you load the car. The fee and the limits are Best Buy’s to change, and the counter is where you confirm them.
Which Waltham Charities Will Take a Donated TV?
Fewer than you would hope. The City of Waltham’s reuse and donations page names TVs for just one charity: Bristol Lodge, as a drop-off. Call before you carry a set over, because a listing on a city page is not a promise they need one this week.
One other line on that page needs checking. It also lists Staples for TVs, but Staples’ own recycling page does not list televisions among the items its stores recycle, so call the store before you count on it.
Only offer a set that works, and if it is a smart TV, sign out of your streaming accounts before it goes. A working set can also go free through a local listing, and some people collect old tube TVs for retro gaming.
When Is It Worth Paying to Have a TV Hauled Out of a Waltham Home?
When the other routes do not fit: a set you cannot carry out yourself, a set over the store limits, or a bigger job. If none of that applies, there are cheaper routes, and we would rather you used them.
If you can carry it, start here
The City of Waltham’s calendar lists a Zero Waste Day on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Nipper Maher Park, from 9 am to 2 pm. It is free and for Waltham residents only, with proof of residency: a license or a Waltham bill. TVs are on its list of accepted items. Waltham’s 2026-27 recycling brochure listed the spring event for April 18, 2026. If you are reading this after October 24, check the city’s calendar for the next date. We do not guess at dates the city has not posted.
Any other time, the city’s appointment pickup works if you can get the set to the curb, and Best Buy’s counter works if the set fits in your car and inside its size limits.
Paying makes sense for a hard carry, a set over the store limits, or a bigger job
The city pickup’s driver will not carry a TV to the curb, and nobody at Zero Waste Day or a store counter is coming into your house for it. A paid haul earns its money in three cases:
- A console or a big tube set in the basement or up a flight of stairs
- A set over Best Buy’s in-store limits of 31 inches for a tube or 50 inches for a flat panel
- More than two sets, or a TV going out with other junk from the same house
That is our work. You point at the set where it sits, and we carry it out of the basement, down the attic stairs, around the landing and into the truck. Our TV disposal service page lists TVs at $35 each, and the crew confirms the exact price for the whole job before anything moves, as our pricing page explains. That makes us more expensive than Best Buy’s counter fee or Zero Waste Day, and we would rather say so.
Sets we haul go to electronics recycling, and a dead monitor or laptop can go on the same trip through our computer recycling service. A truck is driving out either way, so anything else that should go spreads the cost. If an old fridge or washer is part of it, our Framingham appliance disposal post explains why those follow their own rules.
Our trucks run daily routes through Middlesex County, Waltham included. Call or text 603-490-2177 with a photo of the set and where it sits, and we will give you a price range before anyone drives over.
Key Takeaways
- MassDEP’s waste ban, 310 CMR 19.017, keeps tube TVs out of the trash everywhere in Massachusetts. Flat screens are not on that list, but the City of Waltham’s page says TVs must be recycled, so neither kind goes in a Waltham trash barrel.
- Waltham’s TV pickup is by appointment with Capitol Waste (855-533-3400), booked 24 hours ahead of your regular trash day, with the set at the curb by 7 am. The driver does not help carry it to the curb, and the city’s page lists no price, so ask when you book. The City of Waltham’s 2026-27 recycling brochure describes the pickup as one for CRT items, so confirm a flat screen is covered on the same call.
- A tube set is harder to place: its funnel glass contains lead, demand for new tubes has collapsed, per the EPA, and Best Buy caps tube sets at a smaller size than flat screens.
- Best Buy’s recycling page lists $29.99 per TV in store, two per household per day, for tube TVs 31 inches and smaller, portable TVs and flat panels 50 inches and smaller. The page lists Insignia and Dynex sets 50 inches and smaller as free. The fee and the limits are Best Buy’s to change, so call the store first.
- Bristol Lodge is the one charity the city’s donation list names for TVs, so call first. The list also names Staples, but Staples’ own recycling page does not list televisions among the items its stores recycle, so call the store before you count on it.
- Zero Waste Day on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Nipper Maher Park is free and for Waltham residents only, with proof of residency, and TVs are on its list.
- Pay for a haul when the other routes do not fit: a basement or stairs, a set over Best Buy’s in-store limits, more than two sets, or a TV going out with other junk.
