4 ms·

My old company would crush tens of thousands of dollars' worth of high-spec optical gear, each year, as opposed to doing things like donating it to nonprofits o

My old company would crush tens of thousands of dollars' worth of high-spec optical gear, each year, as opposed to doing things like donating it to nonprofits or schools. It was absolutely awful. They ignored pleas to donate, because they got slightly more, in tax breaks, by doing axe breaks (literally). I suspect that this kind of thing is rife, throughout the various industries. One of my favorite HN articles, is the one about the guy fixing an electron microscope in his garage: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42511426 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42511426

nujabe 2y ago
how does a company earn more by destroying things instead of donating it?
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
  I don't know. That was what I was told, when I begged them to donate it to trade schools for poor folks.
  - ars 2y ago
    I don't know these particulars, but a school I'm involved with is required to destroy unneeded computers, rather than selling them or giving them to students/parents because the government grant requires that. I think the idea is to make sure there's no fraud with school funneling free computers (or making money by selling them), but the actual result seems pretty terrible.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- trhway 2y ago
  probably some accounting rules for valuation. Say book value vs. FMV or something like this.
- phire 2y ago
  It's an accounting simplification. The accountants want to say the item's book value is now $0 (because they can use the loss for a tax break). Destroying the item neatly proves this claim to any auditors, because if the wasn't actually worthless, it is now. If there is any suggestion that the item should be donated, then it wasn't worthless. It has some value to someone. This doesn't make donating it impossible. The accountants would just have to update the items book value to its current real value first (they can still count this decrease as a loss). But how do you work out the current real value of the item? You need documentation justifying this new book value that's good enough to satisfy any auditors, and such documentation might be expensive. I believe most tax codes even allow you to claim the real value of the donated item as loss (as long as it's a registered charity), so the overall tax break should be identical to destroying the item. But the extra time and paperwork makes it much more appealing and cheaper to just take the simple option of just destroying the item, especially when the accounting department is short staffed.
buildsjets 2y ago
I helped destroy several million dollars worth of superinsulated stainless steel honeycomb vacuum-insulated panels, after the joint venture that produced them dissolved. Crushed with a front-end loader and recycled. I so wished to take a bunch home and superinsulate my attic, but for tax reasons the company needed proof that they had been destroyed. Ref US patent 5826780A. https://patents.google.com/patent/US5826780A/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US5826780A/en
- ericcumbee 2y ago
  not sure what the effective R value would be.. but that could actually cause problems by causing your HVAC to short Cycle.
  - simondotau 2y ago
    No risk of that unless the air conditioner is massively oversized and the house is airtight to near-Passive House standards. And even then, it’s a minor risk which can be dealt with in a decade when the compressor eventually fails, by replacing it with a much smaller unit.
  - buildsjets 2y ago
    I have a VRF system, which I sized and installed myself, that ain't gonna happen, it will just gently throttle back. Bang-bang control is sooooo 20'th century.
    - genewitch 2y ago
      Even window units are dual inverter or three Inverter now! I got two; one regular style and one where the window closes into the middle. There is another type where it hangs like a saddle over the windowsill, and the window closes on top. You can set the fan to whatever you want, for example, and it will manage the compressor motor, or fully auto. I'm impressed right now the midea U shaped one is cooling with outdoor ambient below 50F. "Bang bang control" is great.
pixl97 2y ago
Most of the time they destroyed this equipment to keep it from getting upcycled on the Grey market to 'white' tagged gear.

nujabe 2y ago

how does a company earn more by destroying things instead of donating it?

ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
I don't know. That was what I was told, when I begged them to donate it to trade schools for poor folks.
- ars 2y ago
  I don't know these particulars, but a school I'm involved with is required to destroy unneeded computers, rather than selling them or giving them to students/parents because the government grant requires that. I think the idea is to make sure there's no fraud with school funneling free computers (or making money by selling them), but the actual result seems pretty terrible.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
trhway 2y ago
probably some accounting rules for valuation. Say book value vs. FMV or something like this.
phire 2y ago
It's an accounting simplification. The accountants want to say the item's book value is now $0 (because they can use the loss for a tax break). Destroying the item neatly proves this claim to any auditors, because if the wasn't actually worthless, it is now. If there is any suggestion that the item should be donated, then it wasn't worthless. It has some value to someone. This doesn't make donating it impossible. The accountants would just have to update the items book value to its current real value first (they can still count this decrease as a loss). But how do you work out the current real value of the item? You need documentation justifying this new book value that's good enough to satisfy any auditors, and such documentation might be expensive. I believe most tax codes even allow you to claim the real value of the donated item as loss (as long as it's a registered charity), so the overall tax break should be identical to destroying the item. But the extra time and paperwork makes it much more appealing and cheaper to just take the simple option of just destroying the item, especially when the accounting department is short staffed.

buildsjets 2y ago

I helped destroy several million dollars worth of superinsulated stainless steel honeycomb vacuum-insulated panels, after the joint venture that produced them dissolved. Crushed with a front-end loader and recycled. I so wished to take a bunch home and superinsulate my attic, but for tax reasons the company needed proof that they had been destroyed. Ref US patent 5826780A. https://patents.google.com/patent/US5826780A/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US5826780A/en

ericcumbee 2y ago
not sure what the effective R value would be.. but that could actually cause problems by causing your HVAC to short Cycle.
- simondotau 2y ago
  No risk of that unless the air conditioner is massively oversized and the house is airtight to near-Passive House standards. And even then, it’s a minor risk which can be dealt with in a decade when the compressor eventually fails, by replacing it with a much smaller unit.
- buildsjets 2y ago
  I have a VRF system, which I sized and installed myself, that ain't gonna happen, it will just gently throttle back. Bang-bang control is sooooo 20'th century.
  - genewitch 2y ago
    Even window units are dual inverter or three Inverter now! I got two; one regular style and one where the window closes into the middle. There is another type where it hangs like a saddle over the windowsill, and the window closes on top. You can set the fan to whatever you want, for example, and it will manage the compressor motor, or fully auto. I'm impressed right now the midea U shaped one is cooling with outdoor ambient below 50F. "Bang bang control" is great.

pixl97 2y ago

Most of the time they destroyed this equipment to keep it from getting upcycled on the Grey market to 'white' tagged gear.