Is it illegal to remove aluminium cans from other people's recycling bins?

Question

Before the recycling trucks take them.

Answer 1

Yes. It's called "stealing".

Answer 2

Those bins are belong to the city. That means your stealing from the city.

Answer 3

The straight answer is yes, it is illegal.

Answer 4

That is an interesting thought.  If you put something in your trash, cops can search and seize it without a warrant.  So I guess that means that discarded property is no longer private property.  However, you should not have to enter the property to retrieve it, or that would be trespassing, so make sure it's by the road.

Answer 5

Yes, those bins are private property

Answer 6

Only if you get caught {duh!} but y do you want them???????

But it should be ok, i mean, if the owner is willing to put them on the street, then theyd b gettin rid of them anyway. But I do think that yes, it is illegal until the person they are actually giving their property to takes it...it is still their property.

Answer 7

Not at all.

Answer 8

Yes, it is illegal.  That is a standard clause written into the language of waste removal franchises issued by most cities and counties.  It is one way those collection companies can keep cost down and process all the rest of the non-profitable items to be recycled.

However, there may be a loophole.  Ask your neighbors!

There was one enterprising young man in my neighborhood for a few years that did that.  He came by one week on the evening before trash day.  He asked if he could go through my recycle bins.  In return, he offered to take all the bins (trash, recycle, yard waste) down to the street for me.  Then once a week I would get a knock on my door.  He would smile and let me know he was here and going through my bins, and remind me if there was any more trash that needed emptied.

I am not sure how far down the road he went.  Every week I would see him dragging huge bags away.  He bought himself a pickup by the time he graduated high school.

Answer 9

In our city anything put on the street for pickup becomes the property of the city.  It is against the law to take anything from a city bin including trash.  Getting the police to enforce that may be a difficult issue.

Answer 10

Why should that be illegal?:-/

If someone is preocupied of ecology and the person who has the recycle bin isn't trying to get those cans to a recycle center, why should the ecological person be blamed of stealling?:-/

Answer 11

Its called stealing

Answer 12

I believe you would have to check your local ordinances on this one because in some cities it is against the law because you are esentially stearling not from the "homeowner or renter" but the city because they own the recycling bins that are provided. So it is probably best to check there first. Even though I do believe that in most cases you would not be fined for taking their cans some homeowners might be opposed to you prowling around their property and make a stink and thats where this situation could arise.

Answer 13

Yes - they remain the householder's property until they are given to another party WITH THEIR PERMISSION.

Permission is inherently granted to the authorised collector by placing them in the bin BUT NOONE ELSE.

Answer 14

yes.

Answer 15

Nope! Once they're on the street, they're public property.

Answer 16

if the recycling bin is on private property, and you have to enter onto the private property with out permission of the owner then it is illegal...

once the garbage and recycling goes out to the curb for pick up, it is legal to go thru and take whatever you want from there trash or recycling..

Answer 17

If the bins belong to other people that would be their property but I have done it before

Answer 18

probably

shouldn't be, but I think it is

Answer 19

Technically, they are the property of the waste disposal company, so it's stealing; and if you have to enter someone else's property, that's trespass.  You can't normally be arrested just for trespass because it's only a civil tort, not a crime; but if you were stealing, then it could count as breaking and entering.    And while it is ordinarily a defence to theft that the owner intended to destroy the article  (theft = intent to permanently deprive, but you were only *temporarily* depriving them of it -- for however long it would have taken for them to destroy it -- therefore not theft),  it won't work in cases where the destruction is incidental to the Rightful Purpose.  (Such as melting down an aluminium can to sell the metal for money.)

It could be argued that you are stealing the value of the cans from the local council.  (It could also be argued that anyone who puts aluminium cans in the non-recyclable rubbish for landfill is stealing the scrap value of the cans +plus+ the cost of burying them in landfill from the council.) It could also be argued that you were running an unlicenced scrap metal dealing operation.

Basically, it depends on how petty-minded The Authorities are -- i.e., whether they're prepared to run up a fortune in court costs nicking you over a few quid's worth of scrap metal only to end up with you getting off with a caution.  If the Old Bill already suspect you of doing something else but haven't got enough evidence, then they might use the can theft as an excuse to go on a fishing expedition.

Answer 20

Yes. In many cities and counties around the country, it is an infraction or a misdemeanor  (petty theft) to take aluminum from the recycling bin of somebody else. It is considered that the recyclables are the property of the recycling company that has the municipal contract. For those companies, it may be a loss of thousands of dollars per year.    

It is doubtful that anyone usually gets prosecuted; however, it is still a crime on the books.  

Aluminum cans are increasing in value, so more and more organized groups are stealing recyclables. And this will attract more police attention to these thefts.

Answer 21

dude that is cheap as h**l...are you homeless?

Answer 22

Nope, bums do it all the time.

Answer 23

No. That is free enterprise.

Answer 24

It depends on the local county/city laws.

Once you put the bins on the street it is no longer private property but belongs to the city. In most cities you can get a ticket for picking through the bins. Just don't throw anything out that could be used in court. Check out the links below.

Answer 25

yes yes yes

Answer 26

I sure hope not....I've done that for years.

Answer 27

You need to check with your local Town Policy.  Some cities make it the private property of the trash company that has the service to that particular area, and some make it "open season" so it can be claimed by whomever wants it.