Shoalhaven City Council has been burdened with a $200,000 bill to recycle old analogue televisions after last month’s free tipping campaign leading up to the digital switch over.

More than 6,500 televisions weighing around 220 tonnes were dropped off during the campaign which ran from mid May until the end of June.

However, Council discovered in March that it was not entitled to a federal government subsidy because of the timing of the campaign.

A request to bring the initiative forward was denied and council was forced to fund the program itself, from the waste management reserve.

Deputy Mayor Cr Andrew Guile says if Council had not gone ahead with the free drop-off campaign there were fears many televisions would have been dumped in local parks and waterways.