Is removing stuff from a recycle centre considered stealing?

Run_to_da_hills

I saw a notice at a recycle centre recently stating that any removal of stuff from this depot will be prosecuted. I also heard that if an employee of one of these centres was caught taking anything for himself he would be sacked on the spot. Most of these places are heavily monitered and dotted with surveylance cameras. Surely whats some mans junk is another mans treasure. Why all this? surely the coulcil should be glad of someone removing something that can be used again, this is what recycling is all about.

Davy

Maybe they don't want people coming just for a nose around blocking up the place. Very good point tho,, i know someone who got a nice bike someone had dumped

Capt'n Midnight

Must wander down there and pickup a few old laptops and see if I can find any personal data...

In places in the UK you can leave working stuff in an designated area where people can pick it up.

Green Issues - freecycle list
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=294058

Halfdog

If they didn't have this ban they would have every nr in the country pilfering them. They have enough problems keeping them away from landfills.

Húrin

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I saw a notice at a recycle centre recently stating that any removal of stuff from this depot will be prosecuted. I also heard that if an employee of one of these centres was caught taking anything for himself he would be sacked on the spot. Most of these places are heavily monitered and dotted with surveylance cameras. Surely whats some mans junk is another mans treasure. Why all this? surely the coulcil should be glad of someone removing something that can be used again, this is what recycling is all about.

Are you sure that didn't refer to tools and equipment?

Remember that the way that bring centres make money is by selling sorted waste to companies that use it.

However I have taken things like mini scooters, swords, etc out of the bring centres and nobody batted an eyelid.

eoinmadden

I was stopped from removing a bicycle from a bring centre.

Eddiethehill

If you were proscecuted you may be able to convince a district court judge that you were not stealing , just recycling.

Say you were looking for a wheel for your bike, or looking for a discarded washing machine or microwave for a part. In that case you would be unlikely to be convicted.

Taking old computer parts may be construed differently if a judge thought your intensions were criminal (identity theft from old hard disks).

Judges are loathe to convict for doing something like foraging for spare parts. You would be unlikely to be procecuted for trespassing if you paid your €2 admission fee.

Use common sense and ask politely and you may find the guys in most centres are not hard to deal with. There is always the one or two who are not. Just find out when their day off is.

wreckless

well

one mans waste is another mans riches!! reduce, reuse and recycle eh? :rolleyes:

bonkey

The way I'd look at it is like this...

Lets say I had a mate who was going to throw out something and I told him to give it to me instead, which he did.

So I have his 'rubbish' sitting in my garden....and the OP comes along and decides to take it because he knows that my mate was going to throw it out before he gave it to me instead.

The vibe I'm getting from some posters here is that not only is that not stealing from me, but that its a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

davidoco

Húrin wrote: »

However I have taken things like mini scooters, swords, etc out of the bring centres and nobody batted an eyelid.

Are you sure it wasn't the Garda compond you were in!

malene

A nacker in navan goes to the recycling centre all the time to take stuff from the metal box.

moneyblues

A couple of years ago I was leaving stuff at a landfill and saw something dumped that I thought would be nice in my garden. I tried to take it (being rubbish it didn't occur to me it would be a problem). The dump employee wouldn't let me take it without paying him. I offered a tenner but he wasn't satisfied and wouldn't let me take the item.

I know a tenner wasn't much but I thought recycling was a good thing and I would hardly be looking for stuf from a dump if I was rolling in cash!

blackbox

moneyblues wrote: »

The dump employee wouldn't let me take it without paying him.

I'd say he was an enterpreneur rather than following official policy!

SeanW

Yeah, thats what it sounded liketo me too!

Newaglish

bonkey wrote: »

The way I'd look at it is like this...

Lets say I had a mate who was going to throw out something and I told him to give it to me instead, which he did.

So I have his 'rubbish' sitting in my garden....and the OP comes along and decides to take it because he knows that my mate was going to throw it out before he gave it to me instead.

The vibe I'm getting from some posters here is that not only is that not stealing from me, but that its a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

What?! That bears no similarity to what the OP is talking about.

It's more like this:

"Lets say I had a mate who was going to throw out something and then brought it to the dump"

Taking something from somebody's house/back garden, which is their property is clearly theft.

The point of the thread is that the items are going to be disposed of/recycled anyway, and as it's better for the environment to re-use rather than recycle, recycling companies should be all for it! Provided the reused item is recycled at a later stage, of course...