Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson found some Beatles and Led Zeppelin at Sorpa, but taking them home was apparently against the law.
RÚV reports that waste management company Sorpa reported that Icelanders are throwing away more household goods than they have since before the bank crash. Employees at Sorpa said it “reminded them uncomfortably of 2007”.
The Prime Minister shared the news story, commenting that he recently found a collection of vinyl records from the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. “Remember that consumption is important,” Sigmundur Davíð added. “It is an economic matter, a cultural matter, and an environmental matter.”
The story was picked up by local media, who poked gentle fun at the Prime Minister for his dumpster diving. Morgunblaðið published a cartoon depiction, showing the Prime Minister standing in a dumpster holding the Beatles’ Help aloft, saying to a nearby sanitation worker, “You don’t always find what you’re looking for, Guðmundur, but sometimes you find what you need most.”
Sorpa later commented on the story, pointing out that it is actually against the law to take things from the garbage of business establishments. Sorpa graciously added, “In this instance that Sigmundur points to, a human error is at work.”
Alert reporters contacted one of the Prime Minister’s assistants, Jóhannes Þór Skúlasson, to ask whether the vinyl had been returned. “Found them but left them behind,” replied the assistant, implying that when the Prime Minister said he “found” the albums, that what he meant was he saw them in the garbage but let them be.
Neither the Prime Minister nor Sorpa have commented further on the story.
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