Does taking away something dumped in a skip count as stealing?

[UncleEbenezer]

Moderator Message:
Split off from here in order to keep that topic focused. - Chris

We dumped it and someone stole it from the skip outside our house.

Interesting language there.

Does taking away something dumped in a skip count as stealing?

Was it stealing when I took a few clothes hangers from a big box with a handwritten notice inviting passers-by to "please help yourself", that was left on the pavement outside a branch of M&Co that was closing down?

[quelquod]

We dumped it and someone stole it from the skip outside our house.

Interesting language there.

Does taking away something dumped in a skip count as stealing?

Taking something which doesn’t belong to you with the intention of permanently depriving the owner of it? I’d say so. As to whether anyone might bother that’s a different thing altogether.

I wonder whether leaving something in someone else’s skip counts as dumping? (It’s certainly more annoying ).

[Lootman]

We dumped it and someone stole it from the skip outside our house.

Interesting language there.

Does taking away something dumped in a skip count as stealing?

Was it stealing when I took a few clothes hangers from a big box with a handwritten notice inviting passers-by to "please help yourself", that was left on the pavement outside a branch of M&Co that was closing down?

About 40 years ago I stumbled across a cast iron bathtub that someone had left on the street near me in North London. I was about to redo my bathroom and so, with the help of several friends, I carried it home and used it, after having it resurfaced.

I do not have that house any more but, given its weight, it is probably still there.

At least where I live now, you can put almost anything out on the street and it will go in 24 hours. I do that all the time - a form of recycling.

[stevensfo]

We dumped it and someone stole it from the skip outside our house.

Interesting language there.

Does taking away something dumped in a skip count as stealing?

Was it stealing when I took a few clothes hangers from a big box with a handwritten notice inviting passers-by to "please help yourself", that was left on the pavement outside a branch of M&Co that was closing down?

Does taking away something dumped in a skip count as stealing?

I guess it depends on if you are renting the skip and have it on your land or not. If so, then yes, it is stealing. Just as it would be if someone took an item you'd left on your car roof, parked on the road.

Though in practice, I agree with the other poster that putting their own rubbish in your skip is far more annoying!

When my mother rented a skip a few years ago, my two sisters couldn't get round fast enough with their junk. Not sure how many neighbours did the same, but it was pretty damned full!

Steve

[Lootman]

putting their own rubbish in your skip is far more annoying!

When my mother rented a skip a few years ago, my two sisters couldn't get round fast enough with their junk. Not sure how many neighbours did the same, but it was pretty damned full!

At least in my part of the world skips now come with locking lids to stop others filling it with junk.

If one of my neighbours gets a skip without a locking lid then I have been known to sneak out at 5 a.m. and offload some of my crap.

Taking something out of a neighbour's skip is doing them a favour, surely?

[stevensfo]

putting their own rubbish in your skip is far more annoying!

When my mother rented a skip a few years ago, my two sisters couldn't get round fast enough with their junk. Not sure how many neighbours did the same, but it was pretty damned full!

At least in my part of the world skips now come with locking lids to stop others filling it with junk.

If one of my neighbours gets a skip without a locking lid then I have been known to sneak out at 5 a.m. and offload some of my crap.

Taking something out of a neighbour's skip is doing them a favour, surely?

Very likely. But it's unacceptable not to ask first.

Otherwise, where would we be? Is the guy claiming to be taking the rubbish from your kitchen at 3am doing you a favour?

Though these days, he'd probably get assessed as having mental health issues and you'd be ordered to give him his own house key!

Steve

[didds]

Interesting language there.

Does taking away something dumped in a skip count as stealing?

Taking something which doesn’t belong to you with the intention of permanently depriving the owner of it? I’d say so.

But that's the point of the query isn't it?

That when somebody puts something in a skip, they have already permanently deprived themselves of it? So how can you permanenlty deprice somebody of something that they don't want and have already rejected?

[Lootman]

Taking something which doesn’t belong to you with the intention of permanently depriving the owner of it? I’d say so.

But that's the point of the query isn't it?

That when somebody puts something in a skip, they have already permanently deprived themselves of it? So how can you permanently deprive somebody of something that they don't want and have already rejected?

That is how I look at it. It is a discarded item and so is fair game for anyone to take it.

I recall how in America some people would remove empty beer bottles from dustbins that had been put out, and then take them to a recycling centre to get 5 cents back on each bottle.

It was considered theft, but not from the person whose bin it was. But from the trash company, who presumably were deprived of that 5 cents per bottle.

[Mike4]

It was considered theft, but not from the person whose bin it was. But from the trash company, who presumably were deprived of that 5 cents per bottle.

This is it exactly. The skip company owns the contents of a skip having been paid to receive it, and sorting stuff of value from the zero value rubbish is one of their profit centres. If people are nicking things from the skips, the skip co loses out.

[bungeejumper]

When I lived in Berlin, back in the early seventies, they turned the idea on its head. The city council would put up a notice on the lamp posts to say that a skip would shortly be arriving, and that anybody could put any (non-dustbin) item in it, and anybody who wanted any of it could help themselves. What wasn't taken would be removed the next day.

I furnished my crummy flat almost entirely with the fruits of my skip diving. And so did all the other students I knew. (The council would put up notices in the universities, advising of the dates and locations.) Some would even hire a taxi for the evening, it was so worthwhile. So the poor got their free furniture, and the not-so-poor could go out and buy a new three piece suite without having to worry about what they'd do with their old one. It all worked rather well.

Would it work here in Britain? Some jobsworth would probably grumble about the insurance risk when people clambered into the skips and cut themselves. But heck, Berliners had seen worse worries than that.

BJ

[Newroad]

Hi BungeeJumper.

Something similar worked in Sydney when I lived there in the Eastern Suburbs. In effect, once a year, you could put anything reasonable on the kerbside - and the council picked it up and disposed of it (if others didn't grab it first). I remember leaving a sofa there and it being gone with the hour.

https://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/residents/waste_and_recycling/book_a_clean-up_collection

As can be seen above, it still seems to happen - with the addition of some extra "optional" pickups. Really good idea IMO.

Regards, Newroad

[Arborbridge]

I'm sure we've had this discussion before, and the answer is "yes" - strictly speaking ,it is stealing. In theory you could be prosecuted or sued, which ever it is!

Arb.

[didds]

This is it exactly. The skip company owns the contents of a skip having been paid to receive it, and sorting stuff of value from the zero value rubbish is one of their profit centres. If people are nicking things from the skips, the skip co loses out.

Now THAT sort of makes sense.

But (without suggesting then that these thefts are not such a thing)...

how would they ever know?

[scrumpyjack]

Rather horrible story. When my daughter was a student at Oxford, the landlord had dumped an old loo in their front garden.
Next morning they found someone had used it! Ugh.

But taking something that had been thrown away is recycling, not stealing IMO

[GrahamPlatt]

We dumped it and someone stole it from the skip outside our house.

Interesting language there.

Does taking away something dumped in a skip count as stealing?

Was it stealing when I took a few clothes hangers from a big box with a handwritten notice inviting passers-by to "please help yourself", that was left on the pavement outside a branch of M&Co that was closing down?

A very long time ago I had a big renovation job done on a property. Loads of what were reasonably good items had to go - e.g. built-in wardrobes, doors, sinks & suchlike. So the building company filled several skips. One day, one of the workmen came to ask me if he could take something from one of the skips. I was a bit nonplussed, imagining that anything in a skip was bound to be fair game for skip divers, but he (and the company manager who was with him) said no, it would, strictly speaking, be stealing unless the owner gave permission. I suppose they would know.

[modellingman]

At least in my part of the world skips now come with locking lids to stop others filling it with junk.

Reminds me of this short clip from a well known TV programme https://youtu.be/pOiB-jmU2PE?si=kdamugecOvXcyhl-

Given as another poster has said that recycling/resale of contents forms part of the skip provider's revenue it could also be to prevent the theft of contents. I would imagine that you live in a part of the world where, to coin a phrase, one man's junk is another man's treasure.

modellingman

[stevensfo]

Interesting language there.

Does taking away something dumped in a skip count as stealing?

Was it stealing when I took a few clothes hangers from a big box with a handwritten notice inviting passers-by to "please help yourself", that was left on the pavement outside a branch of M&Co that was closing down?

A very long time ago I had a big renovation job done on a property. Loads of what were reasonably good items had to go - e.g. built-in wardrobes, doors, sinks & suchlike. So the building company filled several skips. One day, one of the workmen came to ask me if he could take something from one of the skips. I was a bit nonplussed, imagining that anything in a skip was bound to be fair game for skip divers, but he (and the company manager who was with him) said no, it would, strictly speaking, be stealing unless the owner gave permission. I suppose they would know.

But surely, YOU are the owner. While you are using the skip and it is on your land, then you can do what you want. All those items are still YOURS!

Once it's left your property and the rental period for the skip has finished, THEN it becomes the skip hirer's property.

If not, can we be in trouble for retrieving stuff from our wheelie bins?

The tabloid press would have a field day!

Steve

[Rhyd6]

I'm surprised anyone could find anything that isn't total rubbish in a skip, around here what I would class as useless junk gets advertised on facebook and all and sundry seem to want it.

R6

[CliffEdge]

Reminds me of when I was in a cafe in the highlands of Scotland.

[csearle]

Our (Tunbridge Wells) council take a very dim view of anyone removing "their" recycling materials. They take the stance that when a householder puts it out for collection it is already theirs to collect and sell on. Sounds like a 50 shades of gray area to me. C.