I’ve been kicked out of local junkyards ½ dozen times or so now. It’s a tricky game of trying to reach the waste pile when no one is looking, and also seeing who is on duty in hopes of at least ensuring that the same person doesn’t experience the pattern of kicking you out multiple times. Perhaps they would get aggressive and even block you from dumping stuff if you’re kicked out too much.
Strictly speaking, it’s theft to take stuff from the junkyard. To be clear, the junkyards in my area do not sell parts. They just melt and refine the waste. The melt value is naturally less than the as-is value to someone who would repair or reuse.
IMO, the #rightToRepair movement needs to expand to give the public access to junk before it’s recycled or dumped into landfills.
Unfortunately, we are the exception, rather than the rule. If they hung on to HDDs they would likely only move a few. Most of those would later be met by complaints that it wouldn’t work in their computer, or lost data. Similar problems apply to most other goods.
As for the second point. It’s a balance, since you’d end up with someone injuring themselves on some sheet metal one day, and someone taking the lot to weigh in another.
I help out with a charity, and we get a LOT of junk. While we try and reuse what we can, we do dispose of a lot, just because there’s too much of it to store away till it’s needed.