Since the 1990s, environmentalists have had a strong preference for CRT glass to be remelted into new CRTs. It preserves the value added by the barium and lead which is vitrified into the solid glass, and avoids mining of new lead and silica. Given a choice between making a CRT television out of mined material, and making one out of recycled glass, it's no contest.
But word is that China is pulling the plug on its 20 year obsessive CRT manufacturing campaign. They are sufficiently entrenched in LCD and LED display production, that they are turning off CRT glass furnaces. "Time to move on." We never really had access to export to those CRT glass to glass operations, and so China never really developed phosphor washing (at least, that they allowed anyone to use). Now those markets have gone away, having never done anything but make CRTs out of mined material from Kunming and Mongolia.
The USA of course lost its last CRT furnaces a decade ago. Europe lost CRT glass manufacturing 6 years ago. Samsung Corning in Klang Malaysia did not retool and is giving out their purchase orders for cullet on a month to month basis. That would leave India - which still sold as many new CRT units as flat panels this year - as the sold CRT glass to glass option in the world.
But word is that China is pulling the plug on its 20 year obsessive CRT manufacturing campaign. They are sufficiently entrenched in LCD and LED display production, that they are turning off CRT glass furnaces. "Time to move on." We never really had access to export to those CRT glass to glass operations, and so China never really developed phosphor washing (at least, that they allowed anyone to use). Now those markets have gone away, having never done anything but make CRTs out of mined material from Kunming and Mongolia.
The USA of course lost its last CRT furnaces a decade ago. Europe lost CRT glass manufacturing 6 years ago. Samsung Corning in Klang Malaysia did not retool and is giving out their purchase orders for cullet on a month to month basis. That would leave India - which still sold as many new CRT units as flat panels this year - as the sold CRT glass to glass option in the world. 
