The short answer
Televisions and electronics cannot go in household trash, and a big old set will not fit in a car anyway.
The flat prices: TV under 42 inches $62, 42 to 65 inches $68, over 65 inches $73. A computer monitor is $58, a box of mixed electronics is $77, and the entertainment center the TV was sitting on is $96.
Carry-out and responsible recycling routing are inside those prices. Minimum for a visit is $75, so a single monitor at $58 prices at the minimum. Group them.
Why a TV is not regular trash
Screens contain materials that are not supposed to go to landfill. Older CRT tube sets and rear-projection units contain leaded glass, and flat panels carry circuit boards, batteries in some cases, and backlight components. That is why haulers, dumpsters and curbside collection all treat them as their own category.
Texas requires television and computer manufacturers to offer take-back recycling for their own products, so it is worth checking what your brand currently runs. These are usually mail-in or drop-off programs rather than collection from your house, and the terms change, so read the current version before you plan a Saturday around it.
If the set is a 200-pound rear-projection console, a mail-in program is not your answer regardless.
The San Antonio garage TV
There is a specific object in this city: the big rear-projection or early plasma set that got replaced when flat panels dropped in price, and then went to the garage because it still worked and throwing it out felt wasteful.
It has now sat through a decade of summers where the garage runs well past 100 degrees. It does not still work. The capacitors are gone, the case has gone brittle, and it weighs more than the sofa.
Same story with the game-room setup. A lot of households here built a den around watching the Spurs, and the first generation of that gear, receiver, speakers, console, and the entertainment center it lived in, all migrated to the garage together. That is a box of electronics at $77 plus an entertainment center at $96.
The price list
| Item | Flat price |
|---|---|
| TV (Under 42") | $62 |
| TV (42" to 65") | $68 |
| TV (65"+) | $73 |
| Computer Monitor | $58 |
| Box of Electronics | $77 |
| Entertainment Center / TV Stand | $96 |
| Copier / Printer (Commercial) | $97 |
| 3D Printer | $82 |
| Desk (Standard) | $83 |
| Office Chair | $61 |
| Microwave (Countertop) | $30 |
No stair charge, no long-carry fee, no same-day surcharge.
Worked examples
Living room upgrade: TV 42 to 65 inch $68 + entertainment center $96 = $164.
The garage pile: old TV under 42 inches $62 + computer monitor $58 = $120. Under the $241 quarter truck, so itemize.
A home office being dismantled: computer monitor $58 + box of electronics $77 + standard desk $83 + office chair $61 = $279. A quarter-truck load is $241, so volume wins by $38.
The quote runs both calculations and charges the lower one.
What counts as a box of electronics
$77 covers a box of the small stuff that accumulates in a drawer or on a garage shelf: cables, routers, old phones, tablets, game consoles, remotes, chargers, keyboards, small speakers, DVD players.
Wipe anything with storage first. Phones, tablets, laptops, desktop drives, and increasingly smart TVs hold accounts and logins. Factory-reset the device and sign out of accounts before it leaves the house. If a hard drive holds anything you would not hand to a stranger, pull it and destroy it yourself.
Batteries are the other thing to separate. Loose lithium cells and battery packs should not go in a general box, because they are a fire risk in a compacted load. Most retailers that sell them run drop-off bins.
The other routes
Retailer trade-in and take-back. Some electronics retailers accept small devices for recycling at the counter, and trade-in programs exist for anything with residual value. Free, but you deliver it, and none of them will take a rear-projection console.
Manufacturer take-back. Worth checking for TVs and computers, as covered above. Mail-in or drop-off, and the current terms are what matter.
City collection events and drop-offs. Electronics are handled separately from ordinary waste. Check your city's solid waste page for what is currently accepted and where.
Donation. A working modern flat panel is genuinely useful to someone, and a lot of the metro's charity resale shops will take one. Nothing will take a dead set.
Getting it out of the house
Two practical points specific to the sets people actually still own.
A large flat panel is awkward rather than heavy, and it breaks if it flexes. It travels flat or upright, never leaned. If you still have the original box, that helps, though nobody does.
A rear-projection or CRT console is heavy rather than awkward, and it is a genuine two-person lift on a slab floor. Do not try to walk one down a driveway alone, and do not try it in the afternoon in August. Carry-out is included in the price, so there is no reason to.
Frequently asked questions
How much does TV disposal cost in San Antonio?
A TV under 42 inches is $62, a 42 to 65 inch set is $68, and anything over 65 inches is $73. That includes the carry-out and responsible recycling routing. The minimum for a visit is $75, so it is worth adding other items to the same trip.
Can I put a TV in the trash or a dumpster?
No. Screens contain materials that are kept out of landfill, including leaded glass in older CRT and rear-projection sets and circuit boards in flat panels. Electronics are handled as their own category everywhere in the metro.
Is there free TV recycling in Texas?
Texas requires television and computer manufacturers to offer take-back recycling for their own products, so check what your brand currently runs. These tend to be mail-in or drop-off rather than home collection, and the terms change, so read the current version. A heavy rear-projection console is not a realistic mail-in candidate.
Do I need to wipe my devices first?
Yes, and do it before the pickup. Factory-reset phones, tablets, laptops and smart TVs and sign out of accounts. If a drive holds anything sensitive, pull it and destroy it yourself. Separate loose lithium batteries, which should go to a retailer drop-off bin rather than into a general load.
What about the entertainment center the TV sat on?
An entertainment center or TV stand is $96. Together with a 42 to 65 inch TV that is $68 + $96 = $164. If a desk and office chair are going too, check the quarter-truck load price at $241, which often comes out lower.