Remember Redbox? Those bright red DVD vending machines that dotted every strip mall and supermarket in America, offering cheap rentals when Netflix was still stuffing discs into paper envelopes? After streaming finally delivered the killing blow to physical rentals, Redbox threw in the towel in June 2024, leaving around 34,000 kiosks standing as silent monuments to yet another dead media format.

Last month, we reported that these machines were still out there, barely functional and clinging to life. Now, a company called The Junkluggers has been tasked with the massive undertaking of clearing these mechanical movie dispensers from the American retail landscape, and they’re doing it in a surprisingly thoughtful way. I chatted to them to find out how it’s going.

In a symbolic end to the DVD rental era, thousands of distinctive red kiosks are being methodically removed from storefronts across America. The Junkluggers, a specialized removal company, has been tasked with the final chapter of the Redbox story – dismantling and responsibly disposing of these once-ubiquitous machines that changed how we consumed movies.

When Redbox filed for bankruptcy in June this year, thousands of kiosks still stood sentinel outside grocery stores, malls, and big box store locations nationwide. Now, The Junkluggers is orchestrating what amounts to a massive logistics operation to clear these remnants of the physical media age. The company operates nationwide—and thus was able to offer a one-stop shop for disposing of these machines across the nation.

“We’ve successfully removed thousands of Redbox units nationwide, including servicing major retailers in all major metropolitan areas,” explains Justin Waltz, Brand President of The Junkluggers. The company has been working at remarkable speed, completing their first phase of removals from major retailers like Dollar General, McDonald’s, Walmart, and various grocery chains in less than three weeks. “When Redbox shut down in October, there were about 34,000 kiosks still in operation,” says Waltz. “However, most of these have been defunct, removed, and broken down for parts nationwide.”

 But what happens to these decommissioned movie dispensers? Rather than simply scrapping the machines, The Junkluggers has implemented a methodical process to maximize recycling and reuse. “Sustainable junk removal” is the ethos of the company, and that’s guided what happens to the Redbox hardware. “For the Redbox units being handled by The Junkluggers, we help to recycle the metal components and return them to the production supply chain,” explains Waltz. “There are multiple types of Redbox units out there and each must be handled differently… for each unit that comes into our possession, we carefully evaluate its components to identify what parts can be recycled or donated.”

Media enthusiasts will be most keen to know what’s happening to the discs inside these machines. Redbox vending machines are capable of holding up to 630 DVDs each. If we imagine the fleet is around half full, at an average of 300 discs per unit, that would have left over 10,000,000 DVDs to be disposed of. Some might think it a shame for all these to end up in landfill. Thankfully, that’s not the case, as the company has found creative ways to give the DVD libraries within these machines a second life.

“The majority of the DVDs we’ve collected from removals are being rehomed,” says Waltz. “We’ve donated DVDs to local artists, assisted living facilities, homeless shelters, veterans’ clinics, and other community organizations nationwide.” The goal is to see as many discs as possible go to new homes.

The Redbox removal project serves as a case study in responsible corporate dismantling. While the red kiosks may be disappearing from our streets, their components are being recycled into new products, and their content continues to serve communities that can benefit from them. It’s a fitting epilogue for a service that democratized movie rentals, ensuring that even in its sunset, Redbox continues to make entertainment accessible to those who seek it out.

Seasons Changing

As streaming services dominate our viewing habits, the disappearance of these kiosks marks more than just a business transition – it’s the end of an era in how we consumed entertainment. Physical media has long been on the decline as far as mainstream consumption goes. At the same time, we’ve see it bounce back time and again in the music space, first with vinyls, then cassettes, and now CDs. With Redbox collapsing in on itself, we’re either witnessing the true final days of the DVD, or the lull before it becomes retro and hip again. We’ll find out soon enough.

It’s one of those times where technology has made an existing business obsolete. Traditional video rentals went the way of the dodo because nobody wanted to drive to pick up a movie when they could just stream one at home. Redbox perhaps lasted longer than most if only for the fact that its overheads were so much lower by using vending machines instead of staffed retail locations. Even then, it wasn’t enough to survive. It seems that the Redbox rental concept is now definitively consigned to history.