Memory of Sleeping Magnetism: An Allegory of Rebirth, Recycling VHS Tapes in 2004

Memory of Sleeping Magnetism: An Allegory of Rebirth, Recycling VHS Tapes in 2004

In 2004, the hegemony of recording media was clearly shifting: the family records, movie memories, and educational program wisdom that VHS had stored for so many years were being swept away in favor of a new form, the optical disc, the DVD. The black cassettes that had been quietly pushed off the shelves of homes and out of the warehouses of rental stores had lost their former value and were wandering the streets of society as a mass of waste. However, these "memory vessels" held untold possibilities.

Polystyrene was used for the videotape casing, polyacetal for the gears, a durable engineering plastic, and polyester for the tapes, which contained magnetic substances. These materials were too valuable to be incinerated or landfilled, and POM in particular was highly valuable as a recycled plastic. In addition, magnetic tape was expected to be reused as a construction material and electromagnetic shielding material because of its ability to absorb electromagnetic waves.

At recycling sites, small crushers were used for sorting and labels were peeled off with warm air to improve sorting efficiency. In addition, each store of the rental chain was processing old tapes on its own, and these stores could serve as a supply base for materials.

Under the export restrictions of the Basel Convention, recycled materials were shipped to China and Southeast Asia, requiring more advanced sorting technology and transportation that conformed to international standards. This is no longer the disposal of "waste. The process of finding new value in each material and revitalizing it as a seed of business was itself an environmental fable.

The end of recording is the beginning of rebirth. In the depths of the forgotten tapes, we can hear the voice of magnetic memory speaking to us again.