Is it Legal for Someone to Take Recyclables Out of Your Garbage Cans in New York?

Does your neighborhood have someone who comes through every week and goes through all the recycling trash cans looking for any cans or bottles that could be returned for money? Does it bother you?

Separating our trash is something I think many of us have become accustomed to doing every week. At my house in Poughkeepsie, NY we do want we can to put all of our recyclables in the trash bin with the yellow/orange top on it and every other week I wheel it to the end of the driveway for the trash company to swing by and pick it up. It's an exercise almost all of us do each week but since I moved into my new house I've noticed something that makes me feel a little uncomfortable and I'm not sure if I'm alone or not.

Man Goes Through All Recycling Trash Bins

I've lived at my house for a while and like most neighborhoods we have trash pick up on a specific day during each week (it varies depending on the company you use). The company I use picks up on Mondays and like most of my neighbors every Sunday night I wheel the bins to the end of the driveway so they can be collected on Monday. I'm not sure what time they come to collect the trash but over the last couple of months, I have noticed that when I leave for work early Monday mornings around 5 a.m. there's a man with a shopping cart going up and down our street picking out returnable cans/bottles from all the bins.

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After seeing him out there numerous times I'm wondering if I'm wrong to feel uncomfortable with him doing it. I understand that he's doing what he needs to do to get by but I feel weird that he's going through all the bins. Last week I thought about stopping and saying something to him but before I did I wanted to see if anyone else has this going on in their neighborhood. Is it happening in yours? Do you have a problem with it?

Is it Legal to Take Recyclables Out of Someone Else's Garbage Cans in New York?

I took a deep "dive" to try and find out if it's legal to do this in New York and from what I can find I don't think he is breaking any laws because the only thing I could find related to my situation involves dumpster diving and not rummaging for recyclables. According to the folks at Eco-Friendly, dumpster diving is not illegal in New York but if you are trespassing and doing it on private property then you are breaking the law.

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Do I Say Something? Would You?

I don't want to be that guy BUT am I a jerk for wanting to ask the man to stop doing it? I'm not sure why it makes me uncomfortable but I'm struggling with whether I should say something or not. What would you do? Text your thoughts through our station app above.