Netflix destroyed most of its DVD collection

Netflix officially shut down its DVD.com business last month after collecting the last of its discs by mail on Oct. 27. So what happened to the thousands of movies and TV series on disc in its collection?
“As we’ve done over the last 25 years, we’ll be recycling the majority of our DVDs through third-party companies that specialize in recycling digital and electronic media,” a Netflix spokesperson said. “We’re also donating a portion of our inventory to organizations focused on film and media.”
Those organizations included the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the USC Cinematic Arts Library. But those colleges didn’t get many discs.
“We were offered some DVDs from Netflix but most were duplicates of what we already owned so we selected about 50 of them for our collection,” Steve Hanson, associate professor and head of the Cinematic Arts Library said.
The DVDs it got from Netflix were a “mixed bag” ranging from comedy, drama and horror to international. Some titles included “Baby Driver,” “Living,” “Monsters University,” “Mother!,” “Overlord” and “The Banshees of Inisherin.”
Jeremy Schug, senior director of communications and digital strategy, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, said Tisch received a small selection of DVDs as a donation. He didn’t have any details on titles or genres.
“We understand that the majority of Netflix’s DVD inventory was recycled,” Schug said.
DVDs, Blu-ray Discs and CDs can be recycled for their polycarbonate plastic. Recycling firms shred the discs and use specialized equipment to remove the ink, lacquer and reflective metal layers to get the polycarbonate resin, which can be sold to make new items.
In the third quarter, its last quarter of operation, Netflix’s DVD-by-mail business generated $22 million in revenue, down 37% year over year. Netflix announced the coming end of its DVD business last April.

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Photos: Netflix billboard and goodbye message to customers (Netflix)