Total devastation. Even compared to many other "recycling" events I've seen in the past, this seems to eclipse all of that. An absolute disgrace in the name of "recycling" by just filling landfills with historic and often perfectly usable products. It is a continued reminder of just how
wasteful and disposable mankind has become. Most of the CRTs here likely still work fine and would far outlive any of the LCDs and fragile flat-panels.
The majority of CRTs would had been happily picked up by hobbyists throughout Wisconsin and surrounding states, knowing how much some areas struggle to find any sets short of paying hundreds including on destructive shipping. They could had charged "per pound" whatever they claim they'd make by scrapping them, even 2x that amount and profited tens of thousands of dollars in one weekend without any work on their behalf Then still scrapped all the rest.
I don't even know what to call it beyond straight-up stupidity. They will now waste thousands of man-hours to sort, ship, disassemble, scrap and dispose of these materials while simultaneously filling up landfills. In the end they will be at a net deficit of many thousands of dollars and somehow still call it a win (I saw a comment from one of the church organizers describing it as a true blessing to have received so many items for scrapping to bring them in more profit... Sigh.)
It's difficult to even skim through these photos. But a few that jumped out:
- Hannspree 1080p "Apple" themed TV. That company was one of only a few to put out decorative LCD TVs reminiscent of the old Disney style CRTs. This one is shaped like an actual apple and would had been a great classroom set.
- 1940s cabinet TV. Seen in the background of one photo. Again sad to think this TV existed for more than 75 years through generations and now is just garbage. Especially as that era set is often very reparable given they were just point-to-point common electronics and the picture tubes rarely test bad.
- The little HP tower on the top of a stack is a twin to the first computer I had ever bought my mom when she was first learning to use a computer.
- Blue projector-like briefcase. I believe I have a match to that and they were full-featured projectors with cassette/microphone playback capabilities as well, common in schools throughout the 1970s. Very heavy duty and reliable machines.
- Looks like a monochrome IBM set as well as numerous colored sets from the 60s-70s. These would've all been pretty expensive acquisitions back in the day and, due to increasing scarcity due to events like this, likely will become expensive again as fewer are around.
- One looks to be a more obscure top-loading VCR combo set, too.
Well thanks for doing your best to save a few of them!
