In the late 90's, I briefly worked for a 'second-hand computer store'. They were actually a venture by a local recycling company. Apparently, the recycling company would bid on corporate inventories, and scrap whatever came in. After a period of time, they realized that some of the stuff may be sellable. So someone went thru the inventories, and picked up anything "interesting", which went to a showroom or warehouse (where people could browse).
But the stuff that wasn't considered interesting was immeadiately scrapped. Unfortunately, a lot of machines met their demise in this manner. I know ahm will remember seeing some type of IBM S/360 tucked away in the corner, waiting for eternity. And I can remember one of the top racks containing at least three VAX 780s, some 750s, and assorted equipment. There was other stuff, too, like Tex terminals and HP lab equipment, but since my hobbyist eye is towards DEC, that's what I usually notice first.
The point of my story is that a lot of good stuff comes to this end. Even if the total value in gold is small, per machine, in larger quantities, the ROI is high enough to make it worthwhile. And it's not just the gold, but a lot of chips are also worth scrap value.
