Trash Scavenging Currently Legal In Decatur
Decatur Metro | March 10, 2011A few weeks back, I was sent a back-and-forth on the Oakhurst Message Board voicing concerns about non-Public Works employees taking garbage and recycling from curbside and wondering about Decatur’s laws on such things.
I actually did follow up with Keith Lee at Decatur PD about it and he said that he wasn’t aware of any law, but that I should follow up with the city’s Public Works Department. But I never did.
However, it sounds like our friends over in the Parkwood area of Decatur/Druid Hills have been dealing with a similar issue regarding recycling. A post on the Parkwood Garden Club blog details of folks taking aluminum from DeKalb recycling bags and with the explanation that they were hoping to make a few dollars selling it. It’s become such a pervasive issue recently that they followed up with the City of Decatur about its “scavenging policy” and here’s what transpired…
I called up the City of Decatur’s Public Works Department right then and there. I was directed to Felix Floyd, the Facilities Maintenance Superintendent of City of Decatur Public Works. Mr. Floyd had a name for this behavior: scavenging. Mr. Floyd intuitively empathized with the concerns I voiced on behalf of our neighbors and volunteered to me that recyclables scavenging is something City of Decatur doesn’t want people to do, but there is currently no “scavenger ordinance” in place yet making this activity illegal. He went on to explain that Decatur recycling issues are under the purview of the City’s Environmental Sustainability Board, whose members have indicated that within the next several months, they may consider drawing up an ordinance that would ban aluminum scavenging from residential curbsides.
The Sustainability Board has purview over garbage scavenging? Interesting.
Oh, and what about all the furniture that people leave at the curb, in seeming anticipation that someone in a pickup will drive by and take it off their hands? Would Decatur specify that scavenging old rocking chairs is OK, but tuna fish cans are not? Again, interesting.
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Whether or not there’s a specific ordinance, isn’t the jist of existing laws that your stuff, on your property (even if in a trash can) is still your stuff until the garbage collectors take it? That would mean taking someone’s garbage is theft, leaving the property owner to either let it slide (such as the sofa you want carted away) or report it and press charges.
Hasn’t the Supreme Court ruled on this as it relates to whether or not police need a warrant to search a trash can (i.e. whether the garbage is still “yours”)?
It doesn’t seem like an additional ordinance would be necessary, would it?
This doesn’t answer the whole question, but most folks leave their trash between the sidewalk and the curb. And that’s not their property, right?
Good question about the “beauty strip” between the sidewalk and the curb. (I’ve heard the City use that term for it, and it cracks me up every time, especially with respect to my own frontage.) It apparently belongs to me when it needs mowing or cleaning up; but it belongs to the City when I want to put a political sign there. Otherwise, it seems to belong to those few but infuriating dogs who haven’t trained their owners to scoop up.
There’s a Brazilian joke here somewhere.
LOL
I think that once trash is out on the curb anyone if free to take it. You have discarded it. That is consistent with Supreme Court rulings.
Scavenging is essentially one side of a symbiotic relationship, one in which there is benefit for anybody who leaves a piece of furniture or other junk on the curb instead of paying someone to haul it away. Why is this a problem? If the aluminum is finding its way to the recycling stream anyway, does it matter how it gets there? Or does the City’s deal with the recycling service depend or vary somehow on volume of stuff collected?
The police on TV take stuff out of garbage cans and dumpsters all the time, so it must be okay
BTW, it’s “gist” not “jist.” (Sorry, can’t help myself sometimes.)
Why is this a problem?
The fella that does this on our street tends to spill quite a bit of non-aluminum recycling out of the bin. The Golazolets are getting pretty cranky about having to clean up after him.
That would make me cranky, too, and would probably outweigh the initial inclination not to object.
I’m with you, Golazo. I don’t see the problem. If someone wants my trash, they’re welcome to it.
Well, looks like I didn’t read Galozo’s post to the end. Sorry about that. Looks like your scavenger does make it a problem.
What’s the problem here? If they leave your trash scattered out of bags, that’s one thing. But if they “take” stuff you’ve already put on the curb, what’s the harm? Especially if they “take” that old chair that you’ve been trying to get rid of. Frankly, I am a bit hurt when my “stuff” is not picked up by scavengers. We actually monitor how fast things get picked up–it’s interesting to see how one man’s (woman’s) trash is another’s treasure. I know people–some pretty “well-known” in the community people–who actually “pick” trash and find treasure to sell. It’s not uncommon…
I have no beef is someone takes my old furniture (or recycling, for that matter). The driver for a specific ordinance, I think, is usually rooted in identity theft issues more than stuff. My accountant used to work out of a house in Midtown and said that, even though they shredded like crazy, they still had to keep a lock on their trash cans.
Obviously it still falls on the individual to not throw away anything compromising. I’m just sayin’ it ups the stakes.
Aluminum is one of the few profitable items to recycle. Companies take the rest, but what they really want is the steel, aluminum and, to some extent, clean paper and cardboard. If Decatur has less aluminum on a consistent and widespread basis, I would guess we will end up paying more for our trash services to offset that loss.
You’ve hit the nail on the head. For people who don’t see any problem with it now, they will when trash collection fees increase
This is the correct answer (and I say this as the managing editor of a trade publication covering solid waste and recycling). Once that material is set at the curb, it belongs to the city/county/private waste hauler. As private citizens, we think of trash and recyclables as stuff we just want taken away, and we don’t care by who. But much of that material has value (which is why it’s being scavenged in the first place), and waste collection programs often depend on recycling revenues to offset operating costs. When the most valuable material is skimmed off the top by scavengers, it throws off the whole equation. This is especially true with pay-as-you-throw programs like Decatur’s.
Now, all of this doesn’t necessarily pertain to old furniture and similar items, and I’m sure many waste handlers are happy to have someone else remove that stuff. Note that this does not extend to appliances like washers, refrigerators, etc., which do contain a lot of valuable material. Actually, New York has had a big problem with discarded appliances being stolen before waste handlers show up to collect them. Article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/nyregion/15fridge.html
A year ago this issue come up in my neighborhood . The blue bags (DeKalb Co Recycling) were being taken from the curb. We never knew where the bags ended up. Hopefully the scavengers recycled the items they couldn’t sell. Those that made comments on our list serve said “Have at it, it’s fair game if it’s on the curb”.
It only became a problem when the scavengers started to come up the driveways to take the bags from the side of the house. Although it was the same items that ended up on the curb I considered it stealing.
Sounds like a non-issue to me.
Yep, another hyperbolic Decatur snob non-issue.
As far as leaving your furniture on the side of the street in Decatur goes, the policy is that Decatur’s Waste Management team will take any furniture you put on the side of the street. No more hoping, just actual clean up. (Learned this when I needed to dispose of an old mattress, called Decatur City Hall and this was the advice they gave me).
Hi, I’m the one who wrote the article that’s quoted above. M1 is correct: curbside is not considered your property and items places there are “fair game,” which is the precise reason why scavengers aren’t trespassing either — they’re not on your property when taking the aluminum. I think Jill and MZD are probably right, too. Also, to me at least, it’s clear that there’s no comparison between furniture put on the curb and items specifically collected for recycling by City-hired haulers. Think of all of the monetary investment that has been put into the recycling industry, and then think too about all the benefits of it. An efficient and cost-effective recycling contract between the collector and City is dependent upon volume — without it, both recycling and garbage collection costs go up. That’s how I understand it anyway….if I’m wrong please tell me. To me, furniture and trash scavenging are completely different animals due to the specifics of a recycling contract.
Another point of contention is that one of my neighbors was told by an aluminum scavenger that when he takes an entire blue Dekalb county bag and picks out the aluminum later, he throws all the rest of the recyclables into the trash. Now this is crazy — you can’t argue that this is bad news! Totally defeats the purpose of recycling, and in this case the scavenger is doing more harm than good. This is time, effort, and money literally in the garbage can.
Also, to clarify something: According to Felix Floyd, the Environmental Sustainability Board has the ability to draw up an ordinance relating to recycling issues — that is what I meant by “purview.” For example, on the City of Decatur Recycling website (http://www.decaturga.com/index.aspx?page=108), in the article about multi-family property recycling it says, “The owners and associations provide quarterly reports of the items recycled and their quantities to the city. The ordinance was written by the Waste Management Advisory Board in cooperation with the Public Works department.” In this case, the Waste Management Advisory Board wrote an ordinance concerning recycling. Felix Floyd told me, however, that the Environmental Sustainability Board had been considering a recycling ordinance concerning scavenging this time. I was updated on this by Board Chairman Gary Garrett this morning, however, who said that the Board has actually NOT talked about this issue recently, although it has been on and off the radar over the last few years. Plan to post an update to my article with more details when I have time.
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Alternative solution: take your aluminum soda cans to the bin at Fire Dept. 1 to support burn victims.
If you know that is what they want,just put them to the side. BTW in Boston trash picking is a time honored event!
We have not had aluminum scavengers since we bought the large covered recycling container from the company that does Decatur’s recycling. I expect that it’s more trouble than it’s worth for them to dig down into the container when they can move on down the street and get cans out of the smaller bins provided by the city. And it sure is a lot easier and neater for us to just wheel one container to the curb instead of dragging two or three open bins – I highly recommend investing in one of you recycle a lot of stuff.
Let’s find a solution to a problem that does not exist, shall we?
Is there ANY evidence that Decatur’s recycling contractor has complained about this? Is there ANY evidence that they are going to raise rates because of this “problem?”
If not, then lets leave the poor people who make a few dollars a week recycling my aluminum cans alone, OK?