Isn't it scary that people are stealing recyclable materials?

Question

I read on the news that there are reports on theft of recyclables in NYC area, mainly paper.

On one hand, they are recycling. Even if they steal them, they are at least reusing them. On the other, it means materials are in such shortage that it is worth stealing trash! This news freaks me out!

Answer 1

As long as it's getting used or recycled, I'm fine with it.

Answer 2

It is scary but it is happening everywhere!  Here in British Columbia another person got "fried" stealing copper wire from power lines today.  Gross!  The sub station near our house has round the clock security now.

My old boss at the sign making shop had almost all his inventory stolen over the course of several months.  There was nothing you could do to stop them.

I just remembered another thing:

The public toilets in the park near where we live have all had their copper pipes ripped out.  That meant no toilets for anyone for the whole summer!

The recyclers that buy this stuff are to blame.  It is so obvious that it is STOLEN!

Answer 3

They're still recycling, lol. I think it's funny. Especially if the homeless are doing it.

Answer 4

The market price for many materials has increased to the point that many items are being stolen.  Roughly five years ago, copper (NOT scrap copper, but new copper) was selling for $0.62 per pound.  Then, the market began increasing, and today, new copper sells for about $2.85 per pound.  

People who are selling the scrap copper to recycling/scrap centers, are probably getting about $1.75 to $2.00 per pound...and most of them are drug addicts who are stealing whatever they can to get copper, aluminum, steel, etc. to sell to recycling centers.  

In many areas where new homes are under construction, the builders have had to hire security firms to guard the homes, because meth-heads will go into homes and steal the new wiring and copper pipes.  The builder will wire homes during the day, and the wire disappears overnight...

...and as someone else already mentioned, people who don't know much about electricity end up getting fried when they try to steal live wires...

What has driven up the prices of these materials?  In a word:  China.

China has been buying all sorts of copper on the open market, because they're working to improve their infrastructure.  Villages are being plumbed to have fresh water supplied, and other villages are being wired for electricity.  Because we live in a global marketplace, global demand has increased the prices of many commodities such as copper, aluminum, and steel...

Answer 5

Thats the beauty of meth!   A newly wired 6 story building near me was totally stripped of its copper wireing one weekend.   Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of electrician work lost for a couple thousand in scrap.   Catalitic converters are being cut out of vehicles in broad daylight for the tiny bit of valuable metals in them.   Mostly the shortage is caused by Chinas need for metals to build more facilities to produce the cheap plastic c**p that Americans want to buy.   Buy local!