Scrap value of TV hardware?

[radiotvnut]

I see this all the time around here. I think people are ripping the whole insides out, hoping to get every little bit of copper (or any other metal they can sell). It's rare to find a complete TV at the dump anymore. It's about to the point where if you expect to get a complete unharmed TV at the dump, you'd better get it as the people are throwing it away! Preferably, from their vehicle to yours!

A friend of mine had this problem at his old TV shop when he'd throw a TV away. People would bust the TV and leave the mess for someone else to clean up. If he was there and heard activity out back; he'd go tell them to either take the whole set or leave it alone.