"Stealing" out of rubbish bins/skips

Sandstone

It's abandonment.
Anyone who places their property into a skip intends to discard and dispose of it.
There might be exceptions (true accidents? really?) but it's a very strong assumption.

It's not theft. And in fact we should all help each other recycle as much as possible.

As for it being the skip company's property, that's just silly. Does the hirer have the right to change his mind and pick up his or her own junk from the skip? Of course they can. But unless and until they do, it's fair game as far as I am concerned.
And I would have no trouble defending this position in court, if someone were to sue me for it.

But that's actually the most relevant point. If you find it morally wrong, I can't change that. But in a practical sense, when will this ever matter? If the owner suggested that they were unhappy with me taking their junk from the skip, I would immediately give it back. So, no damages in civil law. Will the police care once I have given it back? No. So no criminal liability.
See? The theft act even doesn't matter here (but it's still NOT theft).

Everyone just relax and share the junk. If you need people to ask your permission, just hang a sign. Otherwise, it's just a big dustbin in front of your house.

geordie_joe

Sandstone wrote: »

It's abandonment.

It can be, but not always.

Sandstone wrote: »

Anyone who places their property into a skip intends to discard and dispose of it.

Not all the time, Tesco intended the food they placed in the skip to be burned as fuel. They were getting paid for it therefore they had not abandoned it, they were storing it prior to being sold.

A factory near me produces a lot of scrap metal, people have gone to prison for taking it out of the skip. Because it had not been abandoned, the company did not intend to abandon it, it intended to sell it.

Sandstone wrote: »

There might be exceptions (true accidents? really?) but it's a very strong assumption.

There is no might about it, there are many exception and it is up to you not to get caught out by them.

Sandstone wrote: »

It's not theft.

It can be, and people do get found guilty of it.

Sandstone wrote: »

And in fact we should all help each other recycle as much as possible.

I agree, but what happens if the person who hires the skip intends to recycle (sell) the scrap metal he puts in the skip, and you come along and recycle (sell) it for him?

Sandstone wrote: »

As for it being the skip company's property, that's just silly.

I agree, no company would claim ownership/responsibility for anything another party throws into a skip. They could end up being responsible for stolen property, toxic waste, dead bodies, sharp items that have fallen out and killed/injured a member of the public!

Sandstone wrote: »

And I would have no trouble defending this position in court, if someone were to sue me for it.

If you picked the wrong skip you would have great difficulty in defending it.

Sandstone wrote: »

If the owner suggested that they were unhappy with me taking their junk from the skip, I would immediately give it back. So, no damages in civil law.

What happens if the owner isn't in/doesn't see you and you get caught later. Offering to give it back won't change the fact that it is theft, if the circumstanced are such that it is theft.

Sandstone wrote: »

Will the police care once I have given it back? No.

They will if they have charged you with thet before you offer to give it back. They will if they think you have committed theft and the owner want's to press charges.

Sandstone wrote: »

So no criminal liability.

Are you serious? The police don't decide if there is criminal liability or not, the cps do that.

Sandstone wrote: »

See? The theft act even doesn't matter here (but it's still NOT theft).

Of course the theft act matters, and it CAN be theft depending on what you take and where/who from.

Sandstone wrote: »

Everyone just relax and share the junk.

But that's the point, it may not be junk. You are making the mistake of thinking skips are just large rubbish bins. They are not, they are also used to store and transport items of value that have not been abandoned.

Sandstone wrote: »

If you need people to ask your permission, just hang a sign.

Sorry but you should not need to hang signs asking people not to take your property.

Sandstone wrote: »

Otherwise, it's just a big dustbin in front of your house.

Not necessarily........ Suppose I wanted my house renovating, and as part of the contract the builder got to keep, and sell for scrap all the copper pipe and radiators he removed from my house prior to installing new ones. He puts them all in a skip, ready to take to the scrap yard, and you come along and take it. He is not going to be happy, you just stole valuable items from him. He is going to scream theft and you will have no chance of persuading a jury that you thought a load of copper pipe was worthless rubbish that had been thrown out/abandoned by it's owner.

The simple fact is, taking from a skip may be theft, and may not be theft, depending on what you are taking, where from and who from. So think before you do it because you may have to explain your actions to the police and a jury.

It may only be a garden bench you are taking, but the person who hired the skip may not have put it there. It may have been stolen from another garden and dumped there by local yobs, just for a laugh. But when you are caught carrying it down the street, will you be able to prove you took it from the skip and not the neighbours garden?

soullink

Well I've recently got my second skip to clear out stuff from my house, and it's been raided (again and again) without so much as a knock on the door. Plus, I put a few bin-bags of shredded documents into the skip, only to find them torn open the next day (and then I've had to go cleaning up the entire street as it's all blown everywhere!).

I've done a bit of reading, and found that the legalities of "raiding" a skip or a bin is the same. Basically, If someone places an item, into their bin or skip, it it still their property until the appropriate waste company collects the bin / skip (whereby it becomes their responsibility). Thus anything taken from a bin / skip before it is "collected" is classified as theft. This has all come about since "Identity theft" was presented as a problem to the public - hence the laws changed.

I wouldn't mind if the woman I now have on camera had asked to look in my skip ... and I almost wouldn't have minded if she hadn't asked and just taken things whilst leaving the skip in a tidy fashion ... but she basically trashed the skip, made a mess of everything, and left my organised waste to blow away in the wind (she tore every bin-bag in the skip wide open and pulled all the stuff out). I've had to go out every day now and re-order the stuff I've put in the skip so that I don't get fined by the skip company for having things sticking out of it (which they weren't when I put them in there).

AlTeREgO

Our local carboot sale has 3 very large stalls run by tip site owners, the amount of perfect good stuff that passes through their stalls each week is shocking!!

As for skip driving, surely everyone knows you should ask permission before removing anything, thats just good manners.

I live on a council estate, we often have vans driving around looking for scrap metal, they do ALWAYS knock on and ask before taking anything from my garden, and whenever i put anything out thats bulky for the council to collect, if its of use to someone who happened to spot it they have also knocked and asked if it was ok to have it.

skivenov

Legally, it's theft.

Personally, I love a good skip dive!

prowla wrote: »

I once picked up a computer out of a skip.

Same here. It was an original IBM PC from 1981 - Mended the power switch and made a good wedge on ebay! :cool:

geordie_joe

soullink wrote: »

Thus anything taken from a bin / skip before it is "collected" is classified as theft. This has all come about since "Identity theft" was presented as a problem to the public - hence the laws changed.

Which law has changed? This could settle this argument which has been going on for years.

Janep

One morning last year, I came downstairs and noticed my dog must have had a bad belly during the night, my long pile rug was ruined, so badly there was not way to clean it (what with the long pile). Anyway, it wasn't that expensive, so I rolled it up, and put it on top of my black bin outside my house, ready to take to the dump. Within half an hour I noticed it had been taken from outside the house.

I only wish they had knocked, as I dread to think what they thought after taking it home and unrolling it in their living room!!

mrsyardbroom

Janep wrote: »

One morning last year, I came downstairs and noticed my dog must have had a bad belly during the night, my long pile rug was ruined, so badly there was not way to clean it (what with the long pile). Anyway, it wasn't that expensive, so I rolled it up, and put it on top of my black bin outside my house, ready to take to the dump. Within half an hour I noticed it had been taken from outside the house.

I only wish they had knocked, as I dread to think what they thought after taking it home and unrolling it in their living room!!

:rotfl:

Someone I know parked her car in a car park and when she got the dog out of the car it did a poo. The only bag she had to hand was a plastic bag that had contained Thorntons chocolates. She picked up the poo and put the bag on the bonnet of her car while she went to buy a parking ticket. You can guess the rest. :rotfl: When she looked back she was just in time to see an opportunist thief running off with the bag.

I think the moral of the story is never take anything without asking, even if it's in a skip.

aeb_2

asharon wrote: »

The problem is charities are very very picky. My neighbour offered an almost new 3 piece suite and it was rejected when they came because of a very slight tear under the arm.

You are right there. I offered a G-Plan table and they rejected it because of a chip on the side edge. So as I couldn't get it to the tip myself I put it on ebay just to get rid for 99p and it sold for just over £20

Middy

There is someone in my town that drives in a flatbed truck that stops and rummages through skips and check if anyone has left a washer for the council to collect etc. There is a house on the corner to the entrance to the cul-de-sac my friend lives. Owner died about 14 months ago and the skip was almost empty when the truck driver finished with it. If he is just getting scrap metal for money, that is illegal.

When my parents moved house, for the next couple of days, the truck went up and down their cul-de-sac of 40 houses to see if my parents have left stuff on the drive that they didn't want.

My parents got rid of a lot of stuff before moving. No point in spending extra money in getting a bigger van and more bubblewrap etc when you are just going to get rid of it on the other side.