Recycling materials...who do they ' belong ' to ....?

chiefgoobster

Hi all,
Not sure if this is the right section to ask this question, and if one of the mods thinks it may be better suited elsewhere , then no worries.

This question sort of links up with a recent topic entitled " Odd jobs for living " where the OP was mentioning collecting tin cans he found on the floor, eventually selling them for scrap. I sincerely applaude him for his efforts and please don't think that this post is, in any way, out to " get him /start having a go " etc. Life's too short and I'm not like that.

My thought now is , when do recycleable materials - let's say tin cans in this example - become someone else's ' property ' ?
You buy the can from the shop, it's yours. You put it out in your council recycling bin , does it then become their ' property ' ?
Once the council then sells (?) the can on, it then becomes the waste recycling/whoevers property.

If I were to liberate tin cans from recycling boxes is that technically stealing ?
Although on the flip side, if I were to drop leaflets door to door asking for peoples cans, does that make any difference ?....am I
"stealing " "rubbish " in any way shape or form ?

The same thoughts could then be applied to glass,newspapers and plastics.

Anyone care to offer some thoughts please ?
Y'all have a nice day now y'hear

InsideInsurance

It is a mildly interesting question as it is something that has come up before, though the previous example I saw was people taking things from skips.

Ultimately it is someones property and therefore in theory you shouldnt just take it without the owners permission. Now at what point it transfers ownership from the household to the recycling company/council etc I dont know. How much the household cares about who takes it probably varies but most in the dont care especially if its still being recycled.

Certainly if you were to ask permission from the households for their cans and collect them directly from them then there is no problem.

Niv

I view the plastic recycling boxes the same I would a skip, i.e taking from a skip is stealing. So, in my opinion, taking from the boxes outside people’s homes is stealing. Cans off the street have been 'abandoned' so are fair game as I guess windblown litter would be? However the interesting bit, I guess, is when does the recyclables in the plastic boxes change hands legally? If I put a box of recycling outside my house for collection then decide I want to keep something I put in there am I technically stealing from the council? Fun times we live in when we have to consider stealing litter isn’t it!

Niv

chiefgoobster

I do know (and think it still stands) that putting stuff INTO skips is classed as theft....and that's theft of space.

Now , whose property is the stuff in skips? Is it the householders, as they hired the skip....is it the builders as it was "sub-contracted" of sorts to them ?.....or the actual owners of the skip.
Now 99.9% of builders would happily let most folk have what they want from a skip , as it's more space for their rubbish !

InsideInsurance

Whilst recovering from being ill recently there was some daytime tv (so it must be true) which did say that dumping rubbish in other peoples bins/ skips was legally fly tipping. I dont believe it would be considered theft, the criminal part would be fly tipping and you could presumably bring a civil case against them for the cost they incur you.

I would love too listen to the 999 call when you phone the police to report a theft as someone threw a chocolate bar wrapper in your skip

To the original point, my guess would be it as the point of collection that the transfer of title occurs. If it was at the point of placing the item in the box then arguably if you decided you actually wanted to use the tins for a gardening project or something and took them out again then you would be stealing them. Again, not sure the police would be too interested in that one.

patman99

This is very interesting. In theory, the cans are the Councils property the moment they hit the inside of the bin, however, how would they know if you had taken them ?.
Round were my inlaws live, the good people bag their tin cans up for the dustman to collect. Many times I have been tempted to don a hivis and play at being said 'dustman'. Only one trouble. My van is the wrong colour and does not have a cage on the back.

One day though.......

geordie_joe

Niv wrote: »

I view the plastic recycling boxes the same I would a skip, i.e taking from a skip is stealing.

Taking from a skip is generally not stealing, except in certain circumstances.

Niv wrote: »

So, in my opinion, taking from the boxes outside people’s homes is stealing.

If it's a recycling box then it probably is stealing, as the owner is not "abandoning" it, he/she is putting out out to be collected for a specific purpose.

Niv wrote: »

However the interesting bit, I guess, is when does the recyclables in the plastic boxes change hands legally?
Niv

I don't know for sure, but you can bet your life the council will have the opinion "if it's in our box it belongs to us".

chiefgoobster

I guess a way round it could be to do drop leaflets door-to-door asking householders to 'donate' their cans to your worthy 'cause'.

lol.....am laughing to myself now thinking how much is an empty skip worth if I take it to the scrappies :rotfl:
...and how much if i fill it with tin cans :rotfl::rotfl:

ryandj

I expect no-one is going to chase after you for "stealing" the odd tin can here and there. It's when the council realise you've had a ton of aluminium they could have sold on that there'll be trouble!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

The answere to your questions is an outright YES....

Once the item is in the marked council box/bag and left outside on the council kerbside, it is the property and responsibility of the council.

In recent months, due to the high value of scrap etc, there has been a huge increase in kerbside thefts, and now some councils are 'policing' the pick up rounds to try and catch and prosicute sp? people...

also no the subject of taking stuff from a skip, that is theft too, you need to ask permission to take anythin.

, PLUS getting to the real nitty-gritty, as potentially you will be handling/dealing with waste which is not your own, you will be need a waste carriers license, insurance, storage/handling permits etc....

tyllwyd

When waste management companies bid for work from councils, the bids will take into account the fact that some of the waste such as metal has a cash value. So if you take the metal items out of the recycling bins, the overall balance between waste that can/cannot be recycled will be changed, making the contract less profitable for the contractor - and ultimately more expensive for the council when contracts get renewed, and thus pushing council tax bills up for everyone in the area.