Add GC / release methods

[daveshanley]

Adds a way to cleanly release all objects from memory.

After profiling long-running systems, we found that these elements can hold onto memory; we need a clean, consistent way to release it.

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 99.60%. Comparing base (b46b39b) to head (c4e35e5).
⚠️ Report is 13 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@           Coverage Diff            @@
##             main     #536    +/-   ##
========================================
  Coverage   99.60%   99.60%            
========================================
  Files         193      193            
  Lines       24033    24164   +131     
========================================
+ Hits        23938    24069   +131     
  Misses         59       59            
  Partials       36       36            

Flag	Coverage Δ
unittests	99.60% <100.00%> (+<0.01%)	⬆️

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