Taking from skips. Illegal?

[JJy2k]

Is it illegal to take stuff out of skips or bins if on someones property? Do you need permission or as it's technically rubbish does it not matter?

[Buenchico]

The following is copied from my answer to a similar question. (The question was posed by someone who had hired a skip, so 'you' refers to that person):

It's (theoretically at least) a criminal offence, under the Theft Act 1968, to remove something from a skip without the permission of the owner. However, that brings into question as to who the owner actually is. Does the householder still retain ownership or has he transferred such ownership to the company providing the skip?

To complicate matters further, it's not theft if the (former) owner of property has genuinely discarded it. So, for example, the tramp who rummages through rubbish bins on the street isn't committing theft.

So it's complicated. If you were placing metal items into the skip, and the skip owner was expecting to profit from the scrap metal value, taking those items would probably be theft because a court could rule that you'd simply transferred ownership of the metal, rather than discarding it. In that case, the court would probably order that any restitution be paid to the skip owner, rather than to you. However, the magazines and websites which promote 'skip diving' usually advise that, in order to stay on the right side of the law, the householder's permission should be sought before removing anything.

If you'd like to read the whole thread, go here:
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Law/Civil/Quest ion533703.html

Chris

[JonnyBoy12]

Your answer was so long I had to "skip" reading parts of it, Chris. I agree with the other ABers, people would be only too glad for you to take it, as it leaves room in the skip for more stuff. If you ask the owner's permission they are only too glad for you to take it away. Have had a whole winter's worth of wood free amongst many other things, but would not dare to do this without asking.

What are they going to do, sue you for taking the stuff they no longer want?

[jno]

things get put in skips accidentally once in a while, JonnyBoy. If the skip is still on the owner's property, he might feel he has the right to get them back and other people don't have the right to wander onto his property and help themselves.

[birdie1971]

JonnyBoy12 - Just because the property is in a skip does not mean that the owner of that property has discarded it. A skip is simply a receptacle for miscellaneous items. Just because it happens to be outside your house does not mean that you have relinquished your title to said property. Until such time as the skip owner appears and takes it away, only then do you transfer ownership. That's why we have the "Theft By Finding" provision in the Theft Act.