We had a clear out at work yesterday and we seem to have accumulated a large amount of families personal items that are not worth very much at all, no idea who they belong to, no idea where they are now (work is an emergency safe house) and probably wouldn't want the items anyway.
A skip was ordered and duly filled. I wanted to send the stuff to charity shops but the logisics were "too difficult" but that's another rant waiting to be purged.
Anyway, the stuff was chucked in a skip. A couple of hours later, two guys in a van turn up and start rummaging and cherry picking the bits they like. Fair enough thinks I, help yourself fella's. I made them a brew and had a laugh with them. Top blokes (if a little rough around the edges for the delicate).
Some of my colleagues come out and a slightly ridiculous scene ensues with "Put that back, it's our rubbish! You're stealing! Call the Police *Reginald!".
The guys dump the coffee mugs and head off like a couple of bank robbers, I'm the devil incarnate for the day and beady eyes are watching the skip without so much as a blink until the skip man arrives and takes it away.
My question is: When is something that is discarded no longer the property of the discarder? When it is formally discarded (put in the bin) or when it no longer actually exists (burnt, melted down, crushed)?
*Nobody at work is actually called Reginald – it just seemed appropriate to the hysterical scene that took place.

it's definitely yours even when it's in a skip, possibly even when it's in landfill, for all I know.

Aren't some people just weird?

Rather see it in a landfill site than used by someone. Chances are the guys at the landfill pick thru stuff anyway LOL

the skip co. will argue that it is theirs once it is in the skip.

I think (but not sure if it's true) that the rubbish is yours until it is collected BUT once it is on the public road/path it can be rummaged through by anyone i.e. once it is in the bucket and off your property it is fair game.

I'm sure there were a few high profile cases a few years back of dodgy dealings that were discovered because the person had thrown the 'evidence' out in the rubbish and some journalist went through it – he was being sued for theft but the photo evidence showed the rubbish to be off the property so the journo was deemed safe and not in the wrong.

Chances are the guys at the landfill pick thru stuff anyway

Indeed. Always befriend the people at your local council refuse/recycle/dump as they often get all sorts of interesting stuff 🙂

For many people it's when they chuck it through the car window. 😉

I'd have thought it's yours until its processed by the waste company. At work if we chuck things in the wrong skips there can still be a comeback from the waste contractors even after the skips have left site.

Surely people taking rubish from the skip is a good thing,

a) its reycling
b) you get free extra space in your skip

Busy body morons.

Its your responsibility forever, if you dump 5 litres of DOT4 in a bottle in a skip, the scip co takes it to landfill, the landfill guys rummage through it, find said chemical, its still your fault and your fine for puting it in the wrong skip.

If its 5ltr of mercury, it makes it into the landfill, and into the groundwater, despite being several people and companies down the line its still you who would get the massive fine/prison.

But yes, skips are fair game for a rummage (we used to get all out firewood from them).

There's a big skip out the back of our place which regularly got 'skip surfed'. But after a while the plumbers realised the best thing to do was to leave any metalwork to the side, the surfers come, collect and I assume re-sell any scrap metal, which really is just re-cycling so it all seems like a pretty good idea to me. You dump it why would you want to prevent anyone else having it?

When does your rubbish become not YOUR rubbish?

When you join the pikey fraternity.

why anyone would give a shit is beyond me

Some of my colleagues come out and a slightly ridiculous scene ensues with "Put that back, it's our rubbish! You're stealing! Call the Police *Reginald!".

Grrrr 😡 That's crazy. I'd be happy to let people go through a skip…got to be better than ending up in landfill.

One man's rubbish is another man's tr….

No **** Off it's my rubbish and I want to know that it's getting buried in a big hole you thieving pieces of sh1t. Idiots!

On a lighter note the guys at the landfill definitely go through it picking out the 'good' bits. A mate of mine temped at one, was forced to find himself a hat each day to wear, the perms were digging out and using all manner of stuff… including whistles?!

I took a lot of stuff from skips a while back when building my chicken house and pen – mainly old timber. I always asked first, as thought it polite, but one time I had asked one of the builders who said OK but the owner came out and started ranting. Once I managed to let her know that I had asked she was OK about it but guess she told off the builders as the next time I went around they started calling me a gypo….

Anyone who dumps anything of value is just wrong – freecycle it if you can't be bothered to take it to a charity as it's collected from you.

no idea who they belong to, no
idea where they are now (work is an
emergency safe house)

Perhaps your workmates were worried that these blokes were looking for discarded info that may track down people using the safe house?

Indeed, I'd have said that was a fairly special case where stuff shouldn't be skipped it should be destroyed.

I've skip surfed, I'd love to find another hot water tank, I've been looking for ages now, I've got a need for a large sheet of copper! I'd be fine with someone skip surfing my skip IF it was off my property and IF they didn't leave a mess. If the skip was on my drive I'd not be a happy bunny.

I think it's still right that there is no doctrine of "abandonment" in English law. It stays yours even if you've thrown it out.

Subject to GrahamS's point though, I've always assumed that taking stuff out of skips was doing a favour to the chap who'd hired the skip, because he could then put more rubbish in it. 🙂

My dad used to go through skips for old doors/other lumber he could use for fencing for his bit of land. Pretty sure he used to get the owners permission first – I know I was bloody embarassed as a teenager when he dragged me along to help.

Perhaps your workmates were worried that these blokes were looking for discarded info that may track down people using the safe house?

In that case the sensitive stuff should be shredded and they are at fault for not doing so.

Waste leislation state that its YOURS until it is signed off and you recieve a waste transfer note and duty of care from the skip company.

its your responsibility, until its signed off.
if your two van mates decide to fly tip what they have taken, its your problem, not thiers.

I would tell two guys rummaging through one of my skips to ferk off sharpish. your liable.

however, if someone came up and asked if they could have something FIRST, then thats fine. strictly speaking they should give you something for it before its thiers i believe (even if its a penny)

waste is a funny thing, and the line between waste and non waste is obviously a blur, as one mans waste is another mans paydirt.

in the same vein, people shouldnt be allowed to chuck "stuff" in your skips, as waste criterias are very strict, and the waste disposed of varies the price of disposal hugely (and landfill tax is rocketing at the moment)

Only person items such as childrens toys, story books, clothes, stuff like that went in the skip although I can fully apreciate your point(s). It was all general stuff, nothing to identify anybody. The neighbours to the property and offices don't really know what the building is for (as far as I know). I assume they think it's a hostel of some sort which I suppose as near as damn it, it is. We don't get to know or even want to know the surnames of service users, where they've come from although this is often divulged by the youngsters if any are involved or often exactly where they're going next.
Nothing that can be pinned to any individual leaves the secure office.

There is in fact a principle of abandonment in English common law but I think it's been qualified by statute after waste management stuff.

I'm sure there were a few high profile cases a few years back of dodgy dealings that were discovered because the person had thrown the 'evidence' out in the rubbish and some journalist went through it – he was being sued for theft but the photo evidence showed the rubbish to be off the property so the journo was deemed safe and not in the wrong.

I believe (but am not sure) that it wasn't so much to do with the abandonment of property but to do with theft – common law definition of larceny was (among other things) to permanently deprive someone of goods. The guy in question – Benji "The Binman" Pell – was taking stuff, photocopying it (he claimed) and then replacing it i.e. there was no permanent deprivation.

Investigators always used to "spin the bins" on that basis but in fact I think it was the DPA that really killed that practice – and the use of shredders and email.

My non-professional understanding is that you can be done for taking stuff out of bins etc. Back when aluminium and steel were worth something, there was a big problem with guys coming around on recycling day and nicking all the metal – the council was really losing out because the sale of metal offset the cost of collection (a little).

However, morally/practically – I think going through bins and skips is fine so long as you don't leave a mess. Probably had a dozen pub bike frames out of skips over the years…