Does TSA really throw away the items they confiscate?
 

I told the TSA agent that confiscated my $70 bottle of cologne to take it home to her husband, but she politely said they weren't allowed and it must be thrown away.

However, several times Ive seen those gray bins with items seeemingly stacked just a little too neatly and cleanly at the other side of checkpoints. I mean, why wouldnt they just be lobbing the junk into trash cans, if it were to be thrown away?

Are they throwing these things away or taking them home?

Why wouldnt they be giving it to charity anyway? Too dangerous for airplane = too dangerous for the needy?

There was a article and video on MSNBC a couple weeks ago showing how they sort it and saying they sell the stuff on ebay.

Don't know about other airports but at the one I work at we've been threatened with our jobs for even taking a bottle of water now the janitorial staff on the other hand well thats a different story.

Yeah, it's all thrown out...nudge, nudge...wink wink.

I'm sure the majority is thrown out, but I'm sure some is kept.

My old boss had a connection with US Customs (back when it was simply called that), who sold him confiscated Cuban cigars for about 50% of what they were really worth.

Some goods taken by the TSA in Boston, Providence, Hartford, and Manchester end up being sold at New Hampshire's surplus store.
News Article

In reality, TSA should be treating all confiscated liquids as dangerous hazardous flammable material, because after all that's the reason it was confiscated, right? :rolleyes: Of course, that would mean no giant public trash bins, no mixing of confiscated liquids, etc. But since everyone, including TSA, knows there's no real threat from the liquids they are confiscating, they don't bother.

Part of the irony is that TSA's stupidity and giant liquid-confiscation trash bins have created a perfect opportunity for a pair of bad guys (or unthinking pranksters) to cause a real mess. One comes to the checkpoint with an unlabeled and poorly capped bottle containing bleach which is confiscated and dumped into the trash; the next comes to athe checkpoint with an unlabled and poorly capped bottle of ammonia which is confiscated and dumped into the trash. Chlorine gas and other toxic nasties follow and spread throughout the crowded checkpoint area. Thanks TSA. :rolleyes:

Were it me, I would insist any item of value TSA tried to confiscate was destroyed to ensure that they gained no benefit. Pour out the bottle, break the knife blade, etc. While the rules prohibit taking it for personal gain, and the honest screeners follow them, I have no doubt that some screeners take stuff home. Tools were a hot item for a while; there were claims that screeners were eyeing nice (permitted) hand tools and declaring them bladed and prohibited as an excuse for confiscation and keeping the tool.

A few days ago in OMA I watched as a Swiss Army knife was confiscated and tossed into a box with other knives and items of value, the pax after me had a 6oz can of shaving cream taken and it was thrown in the trash. Clearly they were sorting items of value vs. thing they were just throwing away.

A lot of stuff ends up on Ebay, but toiletries in general are trashed. An awful lot of waste!

I saw a man break a blade on a knife rather than let the TSA have it in fine condition. I would do the same thing.

Where are the TSA suppose to pour the bottle out? Mix it in a container with all the other items? or create environmental pollution by using the sink.

How would the TSA even know the contents are safe enough to open or mix.

Insisting on how it is destroyed is rather ironic, since the item was not allowed to taken through in the first place.

End of the day, if you attempt to take it pass the TSA and it is not allowed, you loose it, end of story.

We all know the rules by now, and if you are unsure, you check it in.

My thought is that they were separating it into a "weapons" category in order to gloat about how many they'd kept from endangering pax in a given time period. :rolleyes:

I have to ask what kinda person doesn't know not to have a knife in their bag though?

Toiletries are thrown away. I know that when this started the leo's had to guard the dumpsters outside to keep the contractor's that clean, out of them. The items that end up on ebay are the hardware items. IF we find something that is really strange in the hardware department, it might go to the training dept.

That was a mistake on behalf of the TSA. In order for him to break it, they had to hand it back to him and that was a no no.

The odds of the concoction that you described coming together are what? I think you wold have a better chance winning the lottery. You have no option to influence what happens when you surrender your items. If you want to make sure that it is destroyed then you have to exit the checkpoint with it and do it yourself. There is no opportunity to take things that we have in our control. There are too many camera's, the hardware items are locked up in a safe type box and we dont have the key.

I assume you mean if the passenger had already gone through security and was on the clean side?

You mean if the passenger went back he couldn't have a confiscated item returned to him to do with as HE wishes, then go through security again without the item TSA wanted to confiscate?

Considering how ridiculous these new rules are, I can only see two reasons..

1. to collect the stuff for themselves to use (lunch)
2. sell it on ebay :D

I dont see any other logical reason for having these rules.