I decided here is where I'll post my ideas -- a few of them.

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Recycling Supercenter

A vast central repository where everyone can send their old, broken items. They're all sorted by model and categorized. When enough items of the same model (or in some cases, different but similar models) are available to make a working object out of them, an employee does that. Then it is sold as refurbished or in a thrift store, etc.

And yes, I do mean VAST. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of models out there. The repository could be broken up by type of object into different stations around the country, but that wouldn't serve a purpose since it would require the same airfare anyway--as there would be only one place to send an object of its given type.

Or perhaps it could be broken up into multiple locations so that the same object types are repeated, but only for certain models or sets of similar models--the ones that are popular enough that the process wouldn't be thwarted by having redundant
locations.

Or just have it one large repository, preferably in the center of population density.