Trivia: Jared Leto asked to wear opaque contact lenses in order to play the blind Niander Wallace. He wanted to lose his ability to see to get into character.
Trivia: Sir Roger Deakins won the Oscar for Best Cinematography for his work on the film. It was Deakins' first Oscar after 13 previous nominations.
Trivia: David Bowie was the initial choice to play the villain Wallace, but he sadly passed away before filming began.
Trivia: During their fight scene, Harrison Ford accidentally punched Ryan Gosling in the face, and the moment was caught on camera. The incident became something of a meme and was talked about all over talk shows and in interviews. To make up for it, Ford invited Gosling to have fun and share a nice bottle of whiskey with him after filming the scene.
Trivia: Director Denis Villeneuve was originally against a sequel to "Blade Runner," as he felt the original film was perfect and would be harmed by a sequel. But after reading the script and meeting Harrison Ford, he changed his mind and immediately signed on.
Trivia: The initial workprint of the film was almost four hours long. At one point, the studio tinkered with splitting the workprint up into two parts, which would have been released a year apart, similar to movies like "Kill Bill" or "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." However, director Denis Villeneuve instead cut the film down to a much more palatable 2 hours and 45 minutes, and it was released as one movie.
Answer: Think of any manufacturing process. Samples of new products are frequently created and then immediately destroyed. Also, the new replicant would require processing, training, etc. It was simpler for him to just dispose of the test.