I worked for a large manufacturer and for certain products they needed to be returned or destroyed. Diverted product was a big problem and it cheapened the brand if items were found going to flea markets. You'd LIKE to think that they would be donated but the truth is that most people would want to make a buck. So these retailers, many times, are not ALLOWED by the manufacturer to do anything other than return or destroy (And most of the time we made sure to take it all back and destroy it ourselves).
Also, there are times when it is a quality concern. You may THINK you have seen them throw away 100 bottles of perfectly good make-up but what you dont know is that the items in that batch code were found with glass fragments which could be harmful to the consumer.
I know a lot is wasted, and much could be put to good and charitable use.
However, what Trillian has posted about has some very good information.
My son used to work at a WM return center. Much of the damaged goods, etc, had to be returned to the manufacturer, at a cost to the manufacturer. Or...the agreement with WM was that WM MUST destroy the goods.
I remember my son being disheartened by them having to destroy heaters and BBQ grills that were only somewhat damaged, sometimes only cosmetically, and a local charity wanted to know if they could have some of the items. However, it was the
manufacturer that would not allow that, and WM had to abide by that agreement.
I just wanted to put the other side of some of the equation out. Other than my son working there and explaining it, I am not sticking up for or against WM; that's just how the return center worked. How much is WM's decision vs. the manufacturer's decision to destroy items and put them in the dumpster, I have no idea.
I might also add...
There is a trucking/freight company here in town. It's a large company. They have a weekly "surplus sale" for items manufacturers don't want to spend the $ to ship back to them. Kinda interesting, I've gone twice, but have a co-worker that goes quite often. Basically, the manufacturer is reimbursed by the trucking company's insurance for goods damaged in transit, and then the goods become property of the trucking company. They sell the items cheap just to recoup some of their $$$$.
