With the sudden shift in TV and monitor designs to using LCD panels rather than CRTs, old glass TVs and monitors are being junked by the tonne. There's rare earths in them thar CRTs! The cathode coatings and the phosphors themselves are full of 'em.

OK, so only a small amount per CRT, but it all adds up when you've got millions being dumped. In the EU this is probably made easier because the rules concerning disposal of electronic goods are fairly well defined, in some countries you might have to start digging up landfills.

I thought the definition of a Dwarf Planet was that it was big enough to be rounded by its own gravity, but not big enough to have swept its orbit clear of other debris?

If it is indeed cigar shape, it would appear to fail the first of these criteria.