How to Dispose of an Old TV in Columbus, Indiana in 2026

How you dispose of an old TV in Columbus depends less on finding a dump than on matching the set to the right route. A small flat screen rides to a drop-off counter in the back seat. A wood-cabinet console or a rear-projection set in the basement is a different job, and a set that still works may not need disposal at all.

Below, we walk through each route as it stands in 2026: what the Bartholomew County Solid Waste Management District (BCSWMD) charges and where, what to ask a store before the new set arrives, where tube and projection sets go, what local thrift stores say about TVs, and when TV and e-waste disposal in Columbus from a crew beats making the trip yourself. The fees and rules we quote come from each named source’s own page, as we read it on September 30, 2026, because local rules, not national advice, decide what a Columbus counter will take.

Where Can You Dispose of an Old TV in Columbus, Indiana?

For a set nobody wants, at one of two BCSWMD counters: the Columbus/Bartholomew Recycling Center at 720 S. Mapleton Street, or the Bartholomew County Landfill at 811 E. CR 450 S. BCSWMD’s locations page says both sites accept residential e-waste, TVs included, for recycling, and its home page says BCSWMD serves Bartholomew County residents only.

The county counter is one of four ways an old set leaves a Columbus home, and the rest of this guide takes them in turn:

• The county counter, for a set nobody wants that fits in your vehicle.
• The store, if the retailer selling your new TV offers haul-away and you add it to the order.
• A new owner, for a set that still works.
• A crew, when the set is too heavy, too big or one of several.

Two related questions have guides of their own. For the city’s curbside rules, see what Columbus bulk pickup won’t haul, and for what state law says about throwing electronics away, see our explainer on Indiana’s e-waste law.

Can a TV ride in a dumpster or trash cart headed for the Bartholomew County Landfill? No: BCSWMD’s landfill page lists electronic waste among the items banned from landfill disposal, and our Bartholomew County landfill guide covers the rest of that list.

What Does the Columbus Recycling Center Charge to Dispose of a TV?

BCSWMD’s electronics page says it charges $20 for all TVs and computer monitors brought to the Recycling Center and the landfill, and that was the posted fee when we read the page on September 30, 2026. That is BCSWMD’s published fee, not our price.

If you expected recycling to be free, that fee is the surprise, and it is the same at both counters.

Here is where and when, as BCSWMD’s pages listed them on September 30, 2026:

The Recycling Center is closed on weekends, so a Saturday trip means BCSWMD’s landfill.

Does Buying a New TV in Columbus Get the Old One Hauled Away?

Only if the store selling the new set offers haul-away and you add it to the order. Before you check out, ask three questions:

• Does delivery include taking the old set, and what does that cost per set?
• Will the delivery crew take a tube, console or projection set, or only flat screens?
• Is there a size limit, or anything you must do before the truck arrives?

Dropping an old set at a store is a separate question. BCSWMD’s A-to-Z recycling guide lists the Best Buy at 1343 North National Road under electronics, and the list of registered E-Cycle collectors kept by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), up to date as of June 2026, includes the same Columbus store. Neither listing says whether that store takes TVs, which sizes, or at what fee, and IDEM’s list notes that some collection locations may restrict the devices they accept. We could not confirm a TV take-back there, so call the store at 812-314-6960 before you load a set.

If the answer is no, the two BCSWMD counters above still take a TV from Bartholomew County residents.

Where Do Columbus Residents Get Rid of a Tube or Projection TV?

The answer in BCSWMD’s A-to-Z entry for televisions is the Bartholomew County Landfill: it says larger TVs should go to the landfill, and that projection televisions should go there for recycling because of space limits at the Recycling Center. The fee is the same at either counter.

A smaller tube set, the deep, boxy CRT kind, can go to either counter, since the same entry says televisions are accepted at both the Recycling Center and the landfill. The entry does not define “larger,” so if you are unsure, take the set straight to the landfill, which takes both the larger sets and the smaller ones, or call the Recycling Center first. A wasted trip with a big set in the back is the one to avoid.

If the tube set still works, read the charity section below before you drive anywhere.

What If a Console TV Is Too Heavy for a Columbus Homeowner to Haul?

Then it needs more hands than you have, or a crew. A console is a TV built into a furniture cabinet, and BCSWMD’s counters take sets you bring to them, so the set has to reach 720 S. Mapleton Street or the landfill in your vehicle or a borrowed one. The size can catch an owner off guard: an Indianapolis owner who inherited a big pre-flat-screen HD set along with a parent’s house described it on Reddit in a word, huge.

Call before you load a wood console. BCSWMD’s electronics page says it will not accept electronics or corded items primarily composed of glass, ceramic or wood, and it does not say where a TV in a wood cabinet falls. BCSWMD’s offices, at the same 812-376-2614 number as the Recycling Center, can settle that before you borrow a truck.

Do not lighten it by taking it apart, either. The same BCSWMD page says items that have been cannibalized will not be accepted, so a set stripped to get it up the stairs can be turned away at the counter.

That leaves two options: enough people and a vehicle that fits the set, or a crew. We are not going to coach the lift itself. How a console should be moved depends on the set, the stairs and the people, and a guide cannot see any of those. If the answer is a crew, the crew section below covers when that makes sense.

Can a Working TV Go to a Columbus Charity Instead of Being Disposed Of?

Not at either Columbus thrift counter we checked. Goodwill Industries of Central and Southern Indiana, which has stores in Columbus, lists televisions among the items it can’t accept on its Household Stuff donation page. Sans Souci, the thrift store at 1526 13th Street, lists televisions among the items it does not accept on its Donate Goods page. Both lists read that way when we checked on September 30, 2026, so call any other charity before you load a set.

So the best move for a set that still works is to pass it on directly: to family, a neighbor, a church or group that has asked for one, or a giveaway listing. That also skips the counter fee. Even an old tube set can find a taker. In Indiana Reddit threads about getting rid of old TVs, one commenter knew someone who would take a CRT set, and another pointed to retro game collectors who save old TVs.

Before it leaves, clear it. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s electronics donation and recycling page tells owners to delete all personal information from their electronics before donating or recycling them. On a smart TV, that includes any streaming accounts still signed in.

If nobody wants the set, it goes to a BCSWMD counter like any other TV, at the same BCSWMD fee.

When Does It Make Sense to Have a Crew Remove TVs From a Columbus Home?

When the trip is the hard part, not the fee. The drop-off route asks for three things: a vehicle that fits the set, enough people to carry it, and time at a BCSWMD counter on a weekday or, at the landfill, on a Saturday. A crew makes sense when one of those is missing, for example when:

• the set is a console, a projection set or a big tube set that takes more people than you have;
• it sits in a basement or up a flight of stairs;
• there are several sets, or the TVs are part of a bigger job, such as clearing a parent’s house;
• nothing you own fits it, or the counters’ hours do not fit your week.

A single small flat screen is an easy counter trip, and you may not need anyone. A crew earns its keep when the set is heavy, the way out of the house is hard, or the TV is one item among many.

We run out of Columbus, with same-day and next-day service. You get a booking confirmation right away, a reminder two days out, another two hours out, and a text from the crew when they are on the way. The crew sizes up the load on site and gives you the price there. No obligation, and you pay when the job is done. For what we take and how the pricing works, see our Columbus electronics pickup page.

If the TVs are part of clearing a parent’s house, estate cleanouts are part of what we do, and our Columbus junk removal page is the place to start. If the set sits at a family home up the road, we cover the I-65 corridor, Columbus to Indianapolis to Bloomington, and our TV and e-waste pickup page for Indianapolis and central Indiana covers those trips.

The Bottom Line

• A set nobody wants goes to a BCSWMD counter: the Recycling Center at 720 S. Mapleton Street on weekdays, or the Bartholomew County Landfill on weekdays and Saturdays. BCSWMD’s posted fee was $20 a set on September 30, 2026, for Bartholomew County residents only.
• Per BCSWMD, projection sets and larger TVs should go to the landfill. Keep the set whole: a stripped set can be turned away, because BCSWMD’s electronics page says items that have been cannibalized will not be accepted.
• A store takes the old set with the new one only if it offers haul-away and you add it to the order. The Best Buy on North National Road is listed for electronics, but we could not confirm it takes TVs, so call first.
• Goodwill Industries of Central and Southern Indiana and Sans Souci both listed TVs among items they do not accept when we checked on September 30, 2026, so pass a working set on directly, after deleting your personal information.
• When the set is too heavy, too big or one of several, a crew carries it out, and we run out of Columbus with same-day and next-day service.