A couple of weeks ago, we brought you the sad tale of UK retailer GAME tossing unsold GameCube games in the trash, "field destroying" them. Of course, there's always the argument that we could be talking about really bad games here, but just the same, it felt wasteful.

Now, if that tale stirred something inside you, then this next one may very well rip you apart.

"DrSpengler" is an employee in a Best Buy warehouse, where the company will "recycle" any piece of electronics equipment that someone will drop off, so long as it measures smaller than a 32" television.

He recalls that in his time there, he has had to trash a lot of "pristine" consoles people have brought in: SEGA Genesises (Genesii?), Super Nintendos, the original PlayStations, and more. One person even brought in a Commodore 64 computer, complete with keyboard, console, monitor; the whole nine yards. And just like the rest, it was trashed.

As he wrote his message board post at the Allspark, he was staring at an Nintendo Entertainment System Action Set, good as new. It had the box, the styrofoam inserts, all the equipment and wires, accessories, and even the plastic bags the whole lot came in.

Plus, it was the rarer '85 Action Set, which came with the grey Zapper, not the later '88 orange version. The only thing missing is the normally-included Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt 2-in-1 game cartridge, which is usually a pretty easy find on its own, anyway.

And, he laments, he must trash it. Management stands firm in that employees are not allowed to keep anything brought in for recycling, and corporate offices qualify anything taken as theft. Ergo, it must be destroyed.

He also recounts "Last week, somebody brought in a functioning BetaMax. I have a jillion Beta tapes at home that I haven't been able to watch in years since my BetaMax broke. Had to throw it away."

In spite of the term "recycling," which doesn't seem to include the terms "reduce" and "reuse" in their plan, DrSpengler explains that Best Buy is paid for their recycle boxes, possibly by weight, and so having the item trashed is more valuable to them than having the item reused.

He also notes that Best Buy doesn't pay customers for what they bring in, thus earning them free revenue for the "recycled" equipment. And there seem to be some discussions over charging customers to recycle their equipment. "The outline I've heard is $10 for every peice of equipment with a screen (TVs, laptops, monitors) which will be reibursed with a $10 Best Buy gift card," he says.

Now, the NES Action Set upon which he saw in perfect condition is now at the bottom of a recycling crate, likely crushed by the weight of four or five television sets, a microwave, and a few computers. Prior to that, however, he did get to scan the barcode, and the set was still in their system: $69.99.

Which is kind of apt, because someone got screwed.

DrSpengler doesn't hold so much ill will towards the company, not enough to drive people away, given that they do employ him. But he does think that there is reason to be mad at people who throw away "perfectly good Nintendos and Ataris."

I just wonder if people who bring in these items are aware of the fate which awaits perfectly good merchandise. Or that there's a market out there on eBay for things like this.