“Not just breaking the law, but a fool to waste that much money.”
30 years ago, it was perfectly legal...and almost certainly done regularly (before capture equipment). If recently, you’re right - but you do need a lot of empty drums to store it in.
Oh, yeah, we used warmed up R-22 jugs to blow out coils back when. The 30 pound jugs were cheap back then.
I went all in on DDC controls about the time the reclaim equipment came on the scene. Haven't really kept up on refrigeration since.