20k to catch recycling "thieves" over 47p worth of sCRAP! ..aww man

[MR GUS]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/05/salvagers-arrested-scrap-recycling

 

Police arrest salvagers for taking 47p in scrap from recycling centre
Pair of salvagers who took dumped items claim police told them the arrest operation had cost £20,000

Owen Gray, 50, and Angela Cubitt, 34, were arrested over the removal of a dumped video games console and an electric drill. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
A police operation involving eight officers and a helicopter was launched after two "salvagers" were caught taking scrap from a tip.

Owen Gray, 50, and Angela Cubitt, 34, helped themselves to an old video games console and an electric drill that had been dumped at their local recycling centre in Gloucester.

They say they were amazed when the officers, backed by the helicopter, swooped on them as they walked home.

Computer engineer Gray was later fined £20 and Cubitt was released without charge. They claim officers told them the cost of the arrest operation was £20,000 and that the scrap value of the old electrical goods was 47p.

Gray said: "All they will do with the stuff at the tip is crush it and burn the plastic. I pick up whatever catches my eye and try to fix it. When they let us out, a copper told me it had cost £20,000 to get us nicked and that the items only cost 47p scrap."

Gloucestershire police defended its response. Superintendent Gary Thompson said: "We take reports of crimes in progress very seriously.

"I make no apology, least of all to any offenders, for responding seriously to an incident like this and would urge the person responsible to think more about the impact their actions had."

The police could not say how much the operation cost

[MR GUS]

Watch out you office biro thieves 

[dhaslam]

Seems like they arrested the wrong people.   

All they will do with the stuff at the tip is crush it and burn the plastic

In Ireland some local authorities  hire helicopters to search for  illegal fires.  Some people have been fined €1500 for burning plastic.

[biff]

cable thieving is big business,
                        the good people of doagbeg in fanad woke last week to find that their phones were out of order. a quick investigation to find the break in the line ended in confusion and finally they realised that the telicom line from portsalon to doagbeg had been stolen,,all 3 mile of it. wow. a local had to admitt," it was a big nights work."
                                           biff

[EccentricAnomaly]

Yes, a big reason for use of mobile phones in Africa is that it's a lot easier to nail down a base station than a long bit of copper wire. Also a reason that Botswana has installed an optic fibre broadband ring round the main towns: scrap glass has less resale value than copper.

[Ivan]

Skip-hunters (as we used to call them) are mostly after items for reuse rather than their scrap value. Our local council has always taken a dim view of people taking things from their rubbish dump, but as it saves the the council £150+ per ton in landfill charges, you'd think they'd be grateful. Strangely, in Monmouth, they also seem to despise people dumping rubbish there too - almost everything that isn't saleable is banned (tyres, plasterboard, DIY-waste, broken electrical goods, fridges, freezers, cookers, asbestos etc - in other words, unless you've got enough to fill a skip, you either pay a professional disposal company or you throw it into the river)

If I ran the dump, I'd invite people to take whatever they wanted, or better still have a system where you can make an offer for anything you fancy.

In Monmouth, the actual council workers are the main culprits- they have a deal with the local scrap metal man who comes up a few times a week to empty the scrap metal bin of any valuables before the council-appointed salvage company comes to take it away, in exchange for folding cash. They also jump in and remove salvageable bikes, electronic equipment etc, which is presumably subsequently sold at car boot sales/down the pub.

[wyleu]

People who work on tips do seem to have a rather peculiar take on life, especially if it's council run.

[MR GUS]

 "tip rats" ..as we used to call them.
I was a 14yr old working summer on the council & sometimes did a day or two on the dump which was part of our town depot.
Our attitude was to let people have as much as they'd take off our hands (without causing a mess or risking lives), we were all in the containers ourselves often enough, & many folk would actually point out good items just in case it was of use...
Made sense! Cost nothing, goodwill went a long way. less landfill.

It was the 80's mind, not so much H&S

[mikey9]

So - in the Highlands - we have the slogan "Reduce - Reuse or recycle." on all the bin wagons - I follow the re-use bit wherever possible - and have absolutely NO shame when it comes to re-using what others consider rubbish. I do appreciate being tagged a "Tip Rat" - I would rather be known as someone who in't prepared to let something with value to us - go get buried in a hole in the ground.

A couple of years ago - I went to the tip - there is a container with "For Re-use" sign on it. Full of reusable bits of furniture, kids videos etc.
I took a Ikea type rocking chair (pride of place in our kitchen - our friends had the other one away) - a couple of bedside tables and a variety of other stuff.
Ended up coming home with more than I went with!

Next time I went - came out with a couple of bits - and was told that it was all for the local charity shop.

Next time I went - back to take what you want. This time I came out with  full suspension mountain bike frame - need work - but I have a garage full of old spares of my own. Should make a runner when I get a couple of hours.
Went one week and found a bike which - other than looking like it had been outside for a couple of weeks and needed the brake reconnectiong (which I did) - would make someone without a bike a perfectly good runner - I tipped the guy off who works the tip.......no idea where it went.

Bikes now go to a Rebuild social enterprise in Inverness ;-)

The most shocking bit of the story is the quote from the copper who think he is justifying their actions. I think he should think carefully about THEIR actions in wasting our money on such an excercise - to catch someone doing a valuable public service.

A for the list of stuff you can't tip in Monmouth...electrical goods, plasterboard, DIY waste - other than garden stuff - what use is their tip then!

[Greenbeast]

If I ran the dump, I'd invite people to take whatever they wanted, or better still have a system where you can make an offer for anything you fancy.

The Stratford-Upon-Avon 'recycling centre' does just this, they have a shop which sells off the stuff that is still good that others don't want.

It's a brilliant idea, i've found loads of good bargains there instead of it going to landfill and the places makes thousands of pounds for charity.
Why every town can't do this i don't know!

[guydewdney]

I once was following a bloke near the local dump - he had a girls bike on the trailer full of rubbish. I followed him into the dump, and asked him if he was going to dump the bike. Yup he said. Is there anything wrong with it? No - he said my daughter no longer uses it. Can I have it? Yes......

So - without touching the ground it went into the back of my truck. The tip Nazi came over and accused me of theft! I asked why was it theft - he said - its on council property, so its council owned. So is my truck - is that council owned? Idiot.



they also started to refuse plasterboard (very easy to recycle) - so one day I turned up with plasterboard, and started to unload it (as I have before) into the skip. Said Nazi came strutting over and ranting. So it got put back in the truck, albeit messily. head gestapo bloke phones me, saying 'we have CCTV - did you drop it on purpose?' - I realised later I should have replied - no - and - oh, under the Freedom of Information Act, can I have a copy of every time I have been here, from each and every one of your ten (yes ten) cameras over the past 18 months..... I think I have been here every day, in five different vehicles.... Or do you want some bloomin plasterboard.?

[Ivan]

You mean you're allowed to take a truck??! For many a year, you haven't been allowed to take a trailer or van onto the Monmouth tip site, unless you have written to the council to make an "appointment" in advance.

[guydewdney]

sorry - the bike incident - I had a pickup - with my company name in 8" letters on the side (film industry based - obv not building - but still had arguments with the gestapo) - the plasterboard, I now have a 4x4 (running on veg )Shogun/Pajero which I refer to as a 'truck'.

[mikey9]

Just telling my wife aout this thread - she informs me that the boy fav toy (like this) - http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=aquaplay&hl=en&rlz=1B3RNFA_enGB228GB237&prmd=ivns&biw=1280&bih=606&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=5986070567142833348&sa=X&ei=yr2oTfe5L9rZ4wa_jJ21Cg&ved=0CFgQ8wIwAA# came from the tip (County Durham). We have a couple of other big lumps of Chinese made plastic toys that have come the same way. I tend to think that if they have been made - and survuve a trip to the tip - and can be enjoyed again and again - then giving then another use is only a good thing ("Tip Rats"....pah  )

Sis in Law spotted this - a fully boxed and unused set being tipped (she paid the tip guy a couple of quid). Our boys spent last summer learning the principle of canals (and getting very wet  )

I can't believe the Monmouth tip description - if I couldn't take the (8x4 - double wheel) trailer to the tip - it would never get a run out (DIY waste - garden waste etc).

[MR GUS]

chaps!
 the Fen edge vernacular " Tip rat" was actually a complimentary one, & described anyone with a good eye who could see the potential in what someone else deemed rubbish, it's actually a proud moniker to have.

We had an area where we'd salvage "for the taking" ..allsorts (it was a dedicated visible area) & were amazed at what would go, in mere minutes on a busy day.

Not a nasty term, merely reflected that folk had an eye like us, mainly disbelief that someone, many folk, could & would throw so much useful stuff away.
 
My first colour tv came from our local council tip whilst I was working there as a 14yr old, as do my acrylic paint holders (a portable cassette box with handle), a tandem bike, chopper bikes,  a very new weber bbq ..the list go's on.

Thus I also use the phrase Auction rat, you've got to rummage through the muck to find the gold!