I died a little inside today.

[EEVblog]

Once it hits the dumpster, it's fair game.

[Tepe]

Once it hits the dumpster, it's fair game.

The owner of the dumpster is sometimes of a different opinion :-(

[EEVblog]

One of the major test equipment manufacturers recently offered a trade-in sale. You know, any old bit of similar gear in exchange for a discount on their shiny new one.
Some of the stuff that get traded in is in excellent condition and worth a lot on ebay. But the dealers who accept are legally bound to destroy them, and to prove they have done so 
No giving it away to kids or hobbyists or schools 

[EEVblog]

Once it hits the dumpster, it's fair game.

The owner of the dumpster is sometimes of a different opinion :-(

Not when it's still on the premises, screw'em.
A late night stealth dumpster run in is order. "Boss, I'm just going to stay back and work late tonight, ok?"

[Bored@Work]

One of the major test equipment manufacturers recently offered a trade-in sale. You know, any old bit of similar gear in exchange for a discount on their shiny new one.
Some of the stuff that get traded in is in excellent condition and worth a lot on ebay. But the dealers who accept are legally bound to destroy them, and to prove they have done so 
No giving it away to kids or hobbyists or schools 

Of course not. One goal of these trade-ins is to take competitor equipment off the market. Not to have kids or hobbyists experience well working competitor equipment.

Yes we live in a sick world, especially when MBAs and accountants are involved.

[Hydrawerk]

What? Is your company a school or university, or what?

[MetraCollector]

You should seriously steal it. With no mercy and no conscience.
Sometimes it is the only way to get some equipment sentenced to be destroyed.
It is usual in universities, however you sholud watch for security cameras.

What I wrote is not a joke.

[tom66]

One of the major test equipment manufacturers recently offered a trade-in sale. You know, any old bit of similar gear in exchange for a discount on their shiny new one.
Some of the stuff that get traded in is in excellent condition and worth a lot on ebay. But the dealers who accept are legally bound to destroy them, and to prove they have done so 
No giving it away to kids or hobbyists or schools 

Of course not. One goal of these trade-ins is to take competitor equipment off the market. Not to have kids or hobbyists experience well working competitor equipment.

Yes we live in a sick world, especially when MBAs and accountants are involved.

I remember that when my work was buying a new scope (some fancy £3,000+ Agilent) I was asked if I wanted to donate my old scope for £45, I guess so they could take it off the market. It was an old 20 MHz Gould, about 35 years old and still worked just fine. I declined and later sold it for £30 on eBay,  but at least I know it actually went to someone and will likely have many more years of useful life.

[megahz]

You should seriously steal it. With no mercy and no conscience.
Sometimes it is the only way to get some equipment sentenced to be destroyed.
It is usual in universities, however you sholud watch for security cameras.

What I wrote is not a joke.

Don't get caught, you might get fired

[EEVblog]

Don't get caught, you might get fired

If that's the worst that can happen, go for it! 

[tom66]

"So, why did you leave your last job?"
"Had to save some test equipment from a dumpster."

--If I am hiring an engineer (Maybe I will in the future!) then this would be instantly a positive sign... 

[EEVblog]

"So, why did you leave your last job?"
"Had to save some test equipment from a dumpster."
--If I am hiring an engineer (Maybe I will in the future!) then this would be instantly a positive sign... 

You don't want to work for a company where it's not!

[megahz]

ehh whats too bad about getting fired, never had a job in my life but doesn't sound that bad

(in 15, don't think im lazy!)

[Randall W. Lott]

My company is a very large building.  I think it's over 100,000 square feet.  Actually, our company is inside of another company's building.  It's run by the University and many of the employees are students or former students.

There's a loading dock, so it might be packed straight on to a truck.  I'll see if my boss has another opinion on the matter.  The guy I talked to is a dick and he didn't thank me for volunteering to help pack the gear onto the palettes.

[Bored@Work]

Don't get caught, you might get fired

If that's the worst that can happen, go for it! 

That and a criminal record. And that limits your chances for some jobs.

[EEVblog]

That and a criminal record. And that limits your chances for some jobs.

For taking rubbish out of a dumpster 

[Randall W. Lott]

That and a criminal record. And that limits your chances for some jobs.

For taking rubbish out of a dumpster 

If I knew where the scrap container was, I'd certainly sneak a peek 

[tom66]

I have got a few things from the dump outside my college but I knew one of the "chief janitors" if there is such a position and he allowed me to grab the occasional thing. I got a Denon tape deck (working, sold for about £15), a Sony VCR (working with a jammed tape, easily fixed), a battery charger (had one cold joint) etc.etc...

In my university, there is an entire room (computer lab sized) full of unused/condemned equipment (unused, unneeded etc.) Lecturer says most of it will be chucked, he can't even give it to students or donate it. Sad.

[c4757p]

That and a criminal record. And that limits your chances for some jobs.

For taking rubbish out of a dumpster 

Eh, I'm not sure I agree. That dumpster has an owner, and whatever's put in it is their property now. Trash isn't public property unless its owner specifically makes it public property by sticking a big old "Free!" sign on it, which they clearly didn't do. As much as I'd like to be able to take expensive garbage, I'm OK with something only becoming mine with the permission of its previous owner.

[tom66]

Many places have laws which state rubbish disposed of in some dumpsters belongs to the municipal authority. This is because waste can actually be valuable as scrap for them.

[MetraCollector]

Those are reasons I simply used word as "steal" or "theft". No soft words. However, I don't feel guilt.
What feelings would thieves have if they are robbed ?
These rubish collectors acquire old equipment for gold, silver, platinium, copper or palladium robbing.

I didn't steal some valuable equipment yet, but some parts as capacitors, relays or some IC's have "suddenly" sneaked in my backpack. Ou dear.
I only take components marked as "trash" or "never be used anymore". What is more, I do not sell it forward, I keep it for my personal purposes like education, hobby projects..

[EEVblog]

Come on people, it's frigg'n dumpster diving!
The company has thrown the item in the bin, which clearly (and perhaps even legally if it came to that) indicates that they have written off and disposed of the item for good.
The bin will also likely be on company property, so by law you aren't trespassing as an employee/student.
And dumpsters are usually designated general rubbish which goes directly to the land fill. The garbage company doesn't give a toss what is in there provided it's not hazardous and meets their guidelines so they can dump it. And some may speculate about the goods becoming the rubbish companies property once it enters the bin, I call BS on that while the bin is still on your companies property.
And seriously, a garbage company is going to attempt to have you charged because you took garbage out of the their dumpster while it's on your companies premises?, I don't think so.
If anyone wants to talk non-dumpster tech disposal companies, then that's a different argument.

Name one person, anywhere, who has a criminal record because of dumpster diving when they are not trespassing.

Sure, there is a slim chance you might lose your job if they are that anal, but a criminal record 
Heck, I reckon their would be a reasonable case (in this country) for unfair dismissal if they sacked you for dumpster diving. Unless it was specifically stated in the companies rules and regulations you signed on for.

[TerraHertz]

This is the kind of thing I complain about often. I've seen it so many times, and died more each time. But usually when I try to tell people who've never seen this happen, they flatly refuse to believe me it happens.
I hear claims like "There's little 2nd hand test equipment in Australia, because it's such a small market." No, there's little 2nd hand test equipment in Australia because here the regulations and structures that ensure all 'depreciated' equipment is destroyed, have fewer loopholes and are more strongly enforced than in most places.

I agree with the comment that when you see this happening, there's only one rational, moral response. Do whatever you can to save the equipment. Including stealing it. By any means.

The financial frameworks in this world are mostly evil. Claiming "our book keeping methods say this equipment's value is zero, and so we can't even give it away because that implies it has value, so it has to be destroyed..." - that's evil. I would happily violently kill such people, if I could get away with it. They deserve to die. The whole system that produces such insanity deserves to die.

It's also commonly the case that there are 'no photographs' rules in place, where equipment is being stockpiled for destruction. Never mind whatever bullshit reasons are given, the real reason is that the people in charge of such immoral acts don't wish any risk of public exposure.

So, what you should do, when you find an example of this immoral destruction, is definitely take photos. Then scrub the EXIF (camera ID) data from your photos (for eg using Irfanview), and publish them anonymously. Complete with names of those responsible, the company name and address, and whatever details you can get of exactly what is being destroyed and the (bogus) reasons claimed. Also the destination of the shipment, where it's supposed to be destroyed. Trucking company name, numberplates, etc. Everything.

We have the Internet. It's a powerful tool for fighting such secret evils. F*cking USE it!

I'd suggest eevblog forum should add a 'Wanton Destruction Hall of Infamy' category, except I know it would never happen. Dave's sponsors (HP, Tek, etc) would immediately call him up and explain how inappropriate that was, and there'd be no more demo equipment loans till he put a stop to it.

Funniest story I have in this category: Long long ago (well past statute of limitations!) I was associated with some people who ran various kinds of arcade games. This was in the days of laser video disks. They imported a bunch of laser disk players for 'cut scene' video in one of their games. Paid a lot of money in import duty. The disk players turned out to not be suitable. Accountants inform them they can recover their import duty from the government, if they have the disk players bulldozed in the presence of a tax inspector who will note serial numbers, etc. So I (being a nice guy and owed a favor by my employer) get a phone call the day before Christmas. "Hey, this is horrible, but we have to destroy those laser disk players. In a few days. If you like I can bring them round to your place now, and pick them up again Boxing day. No one is ever going to open them up and look inside. Do you have some bricks handy? These players contain a lot of nice stuff including HeNe lasers; so long as the units seem about the right weight it will all be good."

So I spent Christmas eve gutting about 20 laser disk players and replacing the guts with bricks.

I've seen countless other examples, most with tragic and entirely humorless end results. it's one of the reasons I 'retired' early. I simply couldn't bear being associated with such an evil system any more.

[EEVblog]

I'd suggest eevblog forum should add a 'Wanton Destruction Hall of Infamy' category, except I know it would never happen. Dave's sponsors (HP, Tek, etc) would immediately call him up and explain how inappropriate that was, and there'd be no more demo equipment loans till he put a stop to it.

No, read the forum title, this is a "A Free & Open Forum" (subject to publishing copyright stuff or abuse for example).
I don't care what you post on here, so by all means set up a forum topic and post the photos.
I don't care if there are repercussions and I lose advertising, or demo gear or whatever. Really, I don't, that's how I roll.

[digsys]

Last week I found out that a Component supplier (Melb OZ) I've dealt with for 20+ yrs had a change of owner who decided to
"clean up" their stock levels. Sent 2x 40 foot container loads for crushing. And NONE of it was "cheap Chinese" grade !!
All electronics related ... was I FOOKIN SAD that day !