If something is in a skip and you take it should that be against the law?

[RootsBooster]

My recent skip was filled 3 times by myself & then emptied again by scroungers taking what I was throwing out, I didn't mind too much after all it was stuff I didn't want but it was annoying that I had to keep refilling the skip with the stuff they didn't want & had just thrown on the floor

 

I myself have taken something sat on top of a pile of junk in the skip, it was a perfectly good surf board (believe it or not !), but the point is, I knocked on the door and asked first. They said yes.

[nexusdee]

I myself have taken something sat on top of a pile of junk in the skip, it was a perfectly good surf board (believe it or not !), but the point is, I knocked on the door and asked first. They said yes.

 

I was surprised when I had a knock at the door & it was a bloke asking if he could look through the skip to see if there was any scrap, shocked at his decency I told him there was plenty more on the back yard that I was putting in the skip & he was welcome to that. While he was loading the stuff into his van another lorry pulled up,true bloke got out & told him that this was his area & to take the metal off because it belonged to him. Then he turned on me asking why I'd hidden it as he'd been on my back the previous day & I'd no right to give it to someone else. I told him that if I ever have any scrap I will give it to someone who knocks on my door & asks for it & not anyone who climbs over my 10ft fence & goes on my property without permission to steal anything. The polite bloke then said I'd better get back in my house just incase trouble started.

[RootsBooster]

I was surprised when I had a knock at the door & it was a bloke asking if he could look through the skip to see if there was any scrap, shocked at his decency I told him there was plenty more on the back yard that I was putting in the skip & he was welcome to that. While he was loading the stuff into his van another lorry pulled up,true bloke got out & told him that this was his area & to take the metal off because it belonged to him. Then he turned on me asking why I'd hidden it as he'd been on my back the previous day & I'd no right to give it to someone else. I told him that if I ever have any scrap I will give it to someone who knocks on my door & asks for it & not anyone who climbs over my 10ft fence & goes on my property without permission to steal anything. The polite bloke then said I'd better get back in my house just incase trouble started.

 

Wow, I never knew scrapmen had their own "turf" !

Were either of them legit scrap men or just blokes wanting the metal?

[tasha_78_1]

My friends got arrested and their van seized by police because they took some scrap metal out of a skip ready to go.

The person who owns the skip wants to press charges I don't think this person should have a right to do that or do anything to get my friends into trouble because I say if its in a skip and its outside no one wants what's in it because its been chucked out.

People collect scrap for money and it helps the enviroment dole isn't enough or any other payments govourment are soo tight what's your opinion?

 

Thats great news, its about time the police clamped down on these THIEVES. They have no right to take anything from anywhere without permission. The person who is pressing charges does right.

[Strix]

some people can be so petty these days eh?, skips are for rubbish, so whether someone is putting stuff in or taking it out to recycle, does it really matter?, better to skip it than illegal dumping in my opinion,

The skips I've seen recently are very carefully loaded to get the maximum from the fee they're paying. Skip rats have an annoying habit of messing up the packing system and reducing the amount of rubbish said skip can actually contain - thereby costing the hirer money

 

Nobody mentioned if these twerps were licenced waste carriers or not

 

Scavengers like these are taking income away from people who are working legitimately and paying taxes

 

... oh, and given the fact that I know a kitchen fitter who had his van stolen and used for scrap thieving which caused it so much damage it was a write off, I'm not sympathetic to ANY illegitimate scrounging - try explaining to his kids why he couldn't go out to work to earn the family with no tools

[quadra123]

This is a bit of a grey area me thinks, however some of the replys here i find more concerning. Scrapping is a big thing right now and I don't see it's theft from the skip company unless they take the actual skip??? It goes to landfill... why are people bringing up the dole?? What are you suggesting... what proof do you have that they draw a dole check aswell as scrapping. More info is needed to have an informed opinion. Was the skip behind a locked fence? Or was it just on the street, a driveway? Did the skip have a lid that can be locked? Don't criminalise people when you only have half a story and make stuff up in your head about how they are ripping off the social aswell. That attitude and stereotypical bigotry is much more concerning than the original story. Hopefully this ridiculous attempt to make criminals out of people for this will be thrown out before it gets to court. This is what the police are doing with our tax money.... shameful. Even finding something is theft now? And no you don't have to be licensed to scrap metal... any member of the public can scrap metal.. according to some comments here my metal detecting hobby is I now over because that's theft.. I think people are assuming the worst here, obviously if it was a skip full of only copper and locks broken to get to it that's different.  And fyi trespassing is not a criminal matter.... unless this is an actual theft where they have actually broken locks gates or whatever steal from a skip obviously from private property then it's just a civil matter and not criminal at all. 

Edited September 26, 2023 by quadra123

[RollingJ]

@quadra123- You do realise this topic has been dead for 11 years?

[El Cid]

19 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

@quadra123- You do realise this topic has been dead for 11 years?

A lot has happened in 11 years, recycling is now the done thing. Do you own anything that someone was throwing out?

I have a few towels and a wooly hat that I found in the street.

[cuttsie]

If I see a old bike that has  been left out for scrap men or its on a skip  I usually ask ,if I can have it then  do it up for kids who do not have a bike .

Some people dump a bike just because the chain is off or a punctured tyre .

If the bikes end up at the tip or scrap yard they are usually crushed due to the well off throw it away society being to lazy to repair them .

Must have salvaged over twenty up to date , all now back on the road and bringing a smile to some ones face .

 

[Al Bundy]

Love looking in skips me. Folks chuck out some quality stuff.

 

Best time is when the students are packing up and leaving for the end of term, they chuck everything out because mum and dad just buy em new ones.

Edited September 26, 2023 by Al Bundy