Dumpster Diving? Legalities?

raptorman

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on the legality of dumpster diving (going through bins for discarded/unwanted goods). I know that taking personal documents is probably illegal, but what about anything else. I have picked up things from the street that had been left out for the binmen before (selection of vinyl albums) and things like timber in skips.

Has anyone else done this before and what have you found.

Happy Easter

aliasojo

Don't know if I should admit to this or not, lol, but I once came across a pair of crutches that had been put out with the bins. They were a little battered but were ideal for the local school's props department.

Jay-Jay_4

It's not really an answer to your question but when we did up our last house we left things out in the back street so that people could take them away.

We left a dining table out, a couple of computer monitors and peripherals, cuddly toys and an old set of golf clubs. They were gone by the next day which was great as we were paying for a skip and it meant that we could fit more into it.

If you leave things out the back for the binmen or in a skip then you're saying that you don't want the item anymore so I can't see what the harm is of someone taking stuff away.


My Dad once lifted a beautiful carved fireplace out of a skip that was covered in thick layers of paint, he stripped it and sold it

SomeOne_2

Sorry, but it is illegal. If the discarded item is on someone's (No pun intended!) property and you take it, you are effectively stealing.

raptorman

SomeOne wrote:

Sorry, but it is illegal. If the discarded item is on someone's (No pun intended!) property and you take it, you are effectively stealing.

Ok, so what if the bin is on the street or public footpath?

SomeOne_2

Not too sure about that, just know that it is illegal if it's on someone's (Again no pun intended) property.

trafalgar_2

It's still illegal (unless someone knows that the law has recently been changed)even if it's down the road or round the corner............the reason being the person whose property it is ,hasn't actually relinquished their rights of ownership over it by putting it in a skip:D ......so if you take from a skip or the like you are stealing UNLESS you go and ask the person who the stuff belongs to if it's ok (only polite really and since they are throwing it away,they'll usually say ,yes.take it )....by saying yes ,they then relinquish their right to it and give it to you.

raptorman

Thanks trafalgar, just the clarification I was looking for.

NDK49

I frequently have to raid my own bin to salvage the perfectly good stuff my girlfriend decides to throw out!

raptorman

NDK49 wrote:

I frequently have to raid my own bin to salvage the perfectly good stuff my girlfriend decides to throw out!

LOL.........

aliasojo

Does that mean I should go and borrow back the crutches in case an angry person decides they would have preferred the bin man to lift them instead of me?

Whether it is technically illegal or not, if folk put stuff out as rubbish, they're hardly likely to care what happens to it thereafter, I would've thought.

Imagine the scene:

Householder: 'Hello, is that the Police? I've just put out some rubbish and someone has lifted it.'

Police:Ok......and you'd like us to do what exactly? At the moment we're up to our eyes in muggings, rapes, break-ins, car theft, fraud and assault cases, but hey, since someone has lifted your rubbish that you no longer wanted and threw out, we'll be right there.'

Can't see it somehow, lol.:D