Anyone here have an issue with bin raiders? Ie scavengers who go through your yellow bins for the 10c recyclable cans and bottles?
Bin raiders what's your thoughts?
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So many variables. How much do you collect? How far is the recyclers? What is your time worth? Do you have a place to store them? Can you fit much in your car?
@4agte: Fair enough, yes a time and motion study could determine if it is economically viable.
Personally I have 3 stackable crates. When they are full I make the effort to take them when I’m going somewhere near a recycle station. I get around $20 back for a small amount of work.
CRushing them or removing the labels is just spiteful and makes it harder for sorting later.
Recyclables that are source separated, such as the containers are much easier to reuse because they are typically fairly uniform and have much less contamination.
@Euphemistic: Is all that effort worth $20, keeping them in crates, putting them in car, using petrol to get to the recycling place, waiting in line, scanning and putting containers in the bins one by one, driving home.
No thanks
@dono2: I reckon it’s worth it. If you can afford to throw $20 in the bin once a month or so you are doing better than me.
I rarely have to wait more than a minute or two by going when it’s not busy (eg not sat morning). I have space for storage at home. I check the app before leaving to make sure the station is open.
@Euphemistic: whats your time worth though? whats the whole process take to do. I can not see how it is worth it unless you are getting paid minimum wage as your main job.
whole thing is just another tax on NSW only people making decent money are the depo collectors and councils
@dono2: It’s more than about making money though. It has reduced the amount of litter, more people are likely to collect, or take it home. It improves recycling as the material is source separated more effectively (and therefore cheaper for the recycler). Ie It has environmental benefits.
For me, placing a bottle in a different place in the house costs me nothing time wise. Taking it to the station is about 15min as I try not to go out of my way. I reckon my time is worth $80/hr
Anyway you can choose not to do it, I choose to do it as I’d rather have the money in my pocket.
@Euphemistic: With the exclusions, it would take our 2 person household around a year to get 200 containers. Large milk and cordial/juice containers would not be included. I drink a can of coke every couple of days, that would be included, I think that's it. Other than that it's just tap water. Unless I'm missing something else you can put in there.
I don't care who goes through the bins if I have put them out on the street but if I ever caught someone coming into my garden to go through them I wouldn't be happy.
Bin raiders are why I have to do Return and Earn now. I saw one go through my bins and made a mess (how hard is it to put stuff back in the bin when it's literally right in front of you ?????). Threatened to call the cops on them …
As long as they dont leave a mess,sort the rubbish properly and dont enter your property (trespassing) its fine.
Also known as "bottle chooks"
I would have thought that Bottle Bowers would be better.
urban dictionary!
At first it bothered, me, especially since they were coming onto my property to get the recyclables, but they soon worked out no-one in our street will bother them if they look thru the buns on bin day, and not any other day.. more convenient for them, to have the bins out, and no issue of trespassing. If they are that desperate for 10c per item…I thought, let them be.. some of them are really stuck for cash, and every bit counts.
No issue as obviously they are only doing it as a stepping stone to a MBA.
Not a problem. As long as they don’t urinate in the bin afterwards or create a large mess fossicking
Dontpissinthebin or jackoffinyourbox?
The only people that are bothered by it are those that are missing out…
When I was living in the city, our neighbourhood bin guy lived in a housing trust home (in Marryatville, nice suburb), paid $160/fortnight rent, got a carers pension, and the money he made from collecting cans was for beer & bets on the TAB (this isn't making a judgement, this is a statement of fact- yes he told me himself). The week after they doubled the deposit (from 5 to 10 cents), this guy bought a cheap ute :D He was always good and respectful, and only made noise once (and was apologetic about it when confronted)… But then, I guess he was a professional :D
he made enough doing it to buy a car?!!
It wasn't anything flash, make no mistake, and to be honest, it probably was more of a hindrance… I've personally seen this guy pushing THREE trolleys loaded up at the same time and he would be at it all hours… But yes, as soon as the deposit doubled, Scratchy got himself a ute within the fortnight. I'm sure one of us was doing it wrong, and I'm not sure it was him.
I go bin diving in my apartment complex bins and dumpster diving / kerb fossicking for scrap metal elsewhere.
My rule is to leave it cleaner than I left it. I know that others are just dirty pigs and ruin it for people like me. A few of the golden dumpsters I used to visit now have locks on them due to others making a mess.
One place I used to visit was an audio visual specialist. I'd get 10kg of cables a week out of them plus ferrous brackets, etc. It's locked now and all that metal goes straight to landfill.
maybe if you asked the owner in person or wrote them a letter with your contact details they would give you a key?
how much do you make doing this?
Unfortunately if the owner gives permission to rummage through the bin they're making themselves legally liable if brad gets injured.
brad could give them a waver he signed?
@bargain huntress: I had a chat to the owner a couple of times. He knows it wasn't me making the mess (he was a nice guy).
He was surprised when I told him that his bin was full of new cables & clean wire offcuts (and that somebody could make use of it). I suggested that he put a 240L bin in his warehouse for cables but from his point of view it's not commercially worth the trouble.
It's easier to move on and find somewhere else as the desperados will start breaking his locks and you don't want to be associated with that.
I do scrapping as a hobby and to keep things out of landfill. The money is a pleasant bi-product. I get $2.30/kg for power cords without plugs. 90c kg for cat5/6, AV & computer cables.
I took a car load to the scrappies last week and got $114 for:
18kg power cords
48kg aluminium extrusion
19kg 304 stainless steel
51kg light gauge steelIf I devoted the same amount of time to bottle collecting I'd "earn" a lot more but it's not as much fun.
on a seperate note, aldi's can be gold mines if you're after something other then metals.(for dumpster diving)
That's 10c…. I see pensioners doing this…. it's 10c and quickly adds up to help pay for food, and power bills.
Who cares, your bin is out on the street, you discarded the rubbish, if they go through it, so whatNah, the bin raiders prone to my area are the local council bin Police, that scavenge through my bin to ensure that I do the right thing and segregate my waste accordingly.
If failed to do so then they tape your bin and may issue you a fine where now the recyclables end up back in land fill with the rest of the hard waste and not OS from what I hear.
We're paying too much to these local councils me thinks!
The problem I have is when people decide to put rubbish in my bins after I put it out for collection. Particularly annoying when they aren’t as discerning as I am. Very, very annoying if that now means the council won’t take away the rubbish.
It's even worse when the culprits are your neighbours! Especially when you have good rapport with them.
Just tell them to stop or, at least, get better at rubbish separation.
Yeah we occasionally get this too, very annoying. They almost never use the correct bin either. Also, one time it was somebody's non-empty can of soft drink, so of course it got everywhere and the inside of the bin ended up a sticky mess.
I can sort of understand the rationale behind the bin audits cos the compliance rates probably leave something to be desired, but when anyone else can chuck their crap into your bins (unsorted!!), not sure that it can be done in a fair manner.
These days I normally just put the bins out as late as possible on the night before collection.
Completely agree with that; but we have had to do the early morning dash a couple of times, when we've forgotten the night before.
bin inspectors are a thing?!
Yes. In our area they even do a semi regular bin survey, where they empty some bins into a special load then go and sift through to work out what ratios of waste types there are. More often they just peek in the top of a random selection.
Helps determine compliance and also wether additional waste processing/recycling strategies are possible
I wish we had some inspectors around here, or a truck driver who cared more.
I've got a neighbour who often has non-recyclables hanging out of their recycle bin. e.g., whole garden hose. The complete box, plastic bag and styrene from some random electronics product. Chip packets.
Never in my life have I encountered this.
I’ve only seen it a couple of times, shortly after the return and earn started. I think they quickly realised that there wasn’t enough cash in it to justify the time taken to rummage in the bins.
It certainly profitable if you can scavenge from a commercial establishment, but going through residential bins does sound like it's not worth it unless you have literally nothing better to do.
flea markets(but the ones that sell food and drinks) often have loads and loads of bins full of plastic bottles.(the my gravatt show grounds) I used to come here every saturday night and get $1-200 in cans and bottles and fill up a van and then turn them in the next day. Caution: your van/car will reek of beer.
Sometimes I see 3 different people a day.
I've also noticed a lot of Asian ladies going through the recycle bins at sydney train stations. Good thing the bins are clear, so they can see before putting their hands in.
In Germany, they leave glass bottles on the ground for the homeless to collect so they don't have to rummage through the bin.
In Hungary, at a hostel I worked at, we would put them in plastic bags and drop them off to someone homeless nearby to cash in.
Keep them in a seperate box nearby for them then.
Yeah this is a nice idea.
I thought we don't have that 10c Program in VIC?
But I see this lady riding a bicycle loaded with bottles every couple weeks?Maybe they sell it to a larger company who transports them into a state that does
Possible, but that is illegal. Some have been prosecuted for it.
Any ozbargainer's who put 10c cans in their recycle bin please hand in their membership
I'm guilty of that, we buy so few bottled drinks that I'd say after saving the empties for a year I'd still have only a few bucks worth.
Thank you! I could afford to leave a mess but I was brought up to be tidy and it is in my blood. We never leave stuff in our recycle bin that could be cashed in so they only tried once. Our local recycle centre is great. They insist to take pet bottles without lid and are quick and efficient. As our son pre-crushed the lot they have also given us money for detergent bottles and fruit juice containers they are not obliged to do so. Great to see such spirit. Social responsibility starts at home and nobody should be getting any free money if they are capable of doing their thing for the environment. Worst thing I come across is beautiful scenic swimming spots full of broken glass. Makes me both sad and angry!
I have picked up some perfectly good furniture from Hard refuse
Saves it going into landfill and I have more money to spend on bargains (which I don't really need but buy anyway)
Councils in VIC mention in the recycling and waste guide (HARD WASTE SERVICE) - It is illegal to : Dump waste, Put items out without a prior booking, Add to a neighbours pile, Scavenge items for commercial gain - nothing about personal use though.
If the hard waste is classed the same as recycling bins then the 10c bottles are for commercial gain. Councils waste money on ridiculously overpriced art work and overseas junkets so good luck coming after people rummaging for a few extra bucks.
I routinely on a sunday night(the bins go out for collection on monday, so they dump their stuff on sundays) go through the dumpsters of aldi, kmart, etc. I get some pretty good finds. Unfortunately a lot of aldi's on the north side lock their dumpsters(I live in brisbane) but oof, that mt gravatt-sunnybank hills area has the best dumpsters if you don't like paying for food.
Leave your cans and bottles in a bag hanging on a fence or something, and a sign on the bin "Nothing good in the bin, check the bag, thanks. Please don't step on the neighbour's daisies, they're not as nice as me."
Then move on with life! :)
(unless you upset your neighbour I guess)
My issue is that they contribute nothing to the spirit of the incentive. The recyclables would end up being recycled anyway in the yellow bin. All these people do are opportunistically trying to make a few extra $. If they instead targeted events like music festivals, marathons, etc which have widespread recyclable waste, I'd be all for it because they're actually contributing.
The recyclables would end up being recycled anyway in the yellow bin. All these people do are opportunistically trying to make a few extra $.
That is not true. Depend on what you put in the yellow bin it might or might not land everything in landfill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYsFK6ZiZRs
But all the bottle that actually end up in the vending machine will have a much higher chance of recycling. It is much easier to sort and clean bottle from the vending machine than one in your yellow bin mix with spoiled milk carton and dirty tomato jar.
Sadly with the water crisis in Sydney, I think people should be throwing into the bin rather than washing their recyclables. It's a big issue. I remember in Cape Town they were just using paper dishes instead of crockery and then binning it straight out.
We need to move towards a sort your own recycling system as well and bigger red bins so that people don't end up contaminating stuff. Ironically I believe that the issue is with councils not providing properly sized bins. If you look at most households, a majority of their waste is in fact not recyclable at all.
Foam is probably the only thing that people use the large recycling bin for in my area. The problem is that it is supposed to go in the red bin but it never fits in there. Paper and bottles account for barely anything, especially when it gets scavenged. Overall, there really isn't anything that should be in the yellow bin at all. I only wheel mine out every month now because of how little waste I actually have, and even then it's barely half full. Unless you are running a home office, you shouldn't be throwing away that much paper anyway. Everything like newspapers are digital now. I think the yellow bin needs to be shrunk and the red bin doubled.
I also should note my red bin is rarely full, but still when there are annoying one off purchases that have lots of foam, what can you do? That's why we need those bigger red bins even if you don't use it. Furthermore in apartment complexes, you need bigger red bins. It's a fact of life. There are just so many more people squeezed in one area. They should size it so that there is one bin for each unit building, just like a house. Why the councils continue to penalise and ruin the recycling system is beyond reason.
It's also not reasonable to think that a bigger red bin will lead to more waste. I don't know what they were thinking.
this post came just in time. for the first time i saw 2 bin raiders this morning. 1 next door at about 5:45am when i was throwing trash out. then the next another down the road at about 640am. at first i thought it was the prick who was putting black rubbish bags in my bin every week as he was digging through the black bin also. but then he moved on to other houses bins checking both bins. i don't mind raiding bins as long as it's not hurting anyone/feelings, dumping shit in my bin, making a mess. i wonder what will happen when these bin raiders find out they have competition in their territory.
I work on first person in gets the stuff.
I was walking/scrapping around Cammeray yesterday (North Sydney Council have a monthly kerbside cleanup) and another guy arrived on a pile when I was going through it for power cords. I asked him what he was after as different people collect different stuff. He wanted flea market goods so i pointed a few nice pieces out to him.
I'd claimed a new looking Razor scooter and a Father & his 7 year old son walked past. The father asked me if I'd claimed the scooter. I asked the boy if he wanted the scooter & he said yes, so i gave it to him as I would have scrapped it out for $3.
I haven't had issues with fellow scavengers.
Easy solution is to put all your bottles aside and they won't have to go through your bin.
Most people doing this stuff are either pensioner, homeless or unemployed. I said good on them because they are actually doing something to earn their money rather than solely survive on Center Link or begging for money off the street. Some of them are not the most civilise but if you are nice to them, there are no reason for them to mess your stuff up.
I used to recycle myself but waiting at the vending machine is always so long near where i lived that it is just not worth my time.
Those who think they are not contributing anything as all the content in your yellow bin will be recycle anyway then please watch this Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYsFK6ZiZRs
Cans and bottles that end up in the reverse vending machine will have much higher chance to be recycle. There are people who job it is to sort everything at the recycling plan but if they get a batch that is to hard to sort everything will just end up in landfill.
I got a few regular "bin raider" when ever i see them i kindly let them know that there are nothing in my yellow bin and also stuck a sign on the bin itself. I tried to give my cans and bottles to the one i deem most deserving but if i am busy or not around during collection day i just leave them to the side and i know someone will collect it.
I get a few of my neighbour to get in on this too and we never had a bin raider leaving a mess or getting our bin rejected because of them.
This recyclying program is a brilliant idea and if it is still around in the future, it will definetly be my kid first job to teach them the value of money when they are still young.
We should all look to be part of the solution and not stand around to judge the problem.
We don’t have such a scheme in Victoria. If we end up with such a scheme I will keep your thoughts in my mind.
My grandparents used to do leave bottles and cans neatly by the side of the bin too on collection day :)
As luck would have it I encountered one in the last week as I've had some mess near my bins.
I asked why they can't clean up after themselves and they were brutally honest and said, if they did that for every bin, they'd lose time and someone else would get to the next one. Quite simply put, they're after as many bottles/cans as they can get and the moving on to the next one. If they have to put everything back, someone else gets the bottles, they miss out.
Makes sense, but I'm not playing clean up twice, I also dislike people going through my trash so I've just cashed in the bottles to return and earn.
Next time after placing bin out rub some dog turd around the lid
I once left 2 or 3 bottles in the bin by mistake. Came out the morning after recycling night to find that my bin had been upended on my front yard and just the bottles taken.
So now, if I have to put bottles or cans in the recycling, cans get crushed and bottles have the labels removed. I also have a sticker on the top of the bin that says “no bottle or cans in this bin.” It doesn’t stop the bin scabs from having a look, but at least it stops them from upending the bin to get to the bottles at the bottom.
Container recycling schemes are a tax on people who recycle responsibly and don't litter. As per usual, do the right thing and get punished for those who don't.
A mate who works for Woolworthless was told to pour bleach over the unused produce in their skip bins to prevent dumpster diving. It was all perfectly good produce which could easily be donated (with a phone call), but then they would sell less.
The stock was just damaged, dented tins/cans, out of best-before (but still edible), whole cartons of eggs (if 1 cracked), trolley loads of day old bread, etc, etc. The waste is extra-ordinary.
Personally I have no problem with people rumaging through bins, as long as they dont make a mess/excessive noise.
We need to recycle more! I still have fond memories of going to the rubbish tip as a kid and salvagin useful treasures.Pouring bleach would definitely not be good for the environment. Must have been suggested by people who clean with white king and don't use masks or gloves.
It's a carcinogen, btw.
Both my kids worked as checkout operators and took their time to research before committing the work place. None would ever consider to work for such a messy place! It is also the main reason that all our family members buy the least from Woolworth. Their slack attitude goes right through their whole system. I have no bias for brands but if the dumpster smells from the carpark my health is worth the extra cost to shop at a cleaner and better managed place. When Woolworth tried to break into the hardware market they showed their true face. Sell everything, support nothing. Glad they went belly up.
I have shopped around the world and good supermarket managers are quick and flexible to discount perishable goods in time to sell it at market prices rather than dumping and purposely contaminating it!
We don't have the 10c return and earn scheme in Vic. So no, no bin raiders, at least not in my part of town.
When i traveled in Europe earlier this year found it was common practice to leave bottles and cans next to local bins instead of put them in the bin, The homeless collect the and return them similar to some Australian states for cash. Was more dignified and still made sure they were recycled
If you find it a pain them going through your rubbish then put a tub next to your bin with your bottles and cans, makes it simpler and less mess or return them yourself if you want the cash
Plastic bottles get 25 cents (euro) in The Netherlands..not sure why we get only 10 cents here. Does anyone know?
Wouldn't be surprised if it was just some arbitrary value that got plucked out of the air by the govt when they decided to implement the scheme.
What you call bin raiders, I call recycling, ones in my area are respectful so all good.
That said I industrial dumpster diver in my lunch break. Made a bit of coin reselling electronics. I make coin, buyer happy with legacy parts no longer available, less landfill with toxic materials, so all good.
Ive done it since day one. I would never leave a mess. I do it after 1 am because I dont want to be seen, mostly because I dont want to be copied in that street. However there are plenty of other places where people can see me. The shopping centre is hard beause it is too tempting and it is not allowed. So I go there less. I did a new street the other night.
The people who raid bins in the middle of the night are the worst type of bin raider. The sound of clinking bottles is very loud in the dead of night - I've been woken on several occasions.
Oh the humanity. Woken several times!
Get some ear blockers the highest level for jack hammers lol ;)
No mess, no worries.
So long as it's not on my property, they don't disturb me with noise, and they don't make a mess then I don't have a problem.
A lot of what we put in the yellow bins ends up in landfill anyway. So less landfill and someone who needs the money makes a few bucks. Seems like a good thing to me.
BREAKING NEWS I was at my new favourite bin raiding place (a gas station/takeaway site) last night when a man called me over to his car (I thought he was going to give me some bottles) and he said Would you accept a Christmas present and he handed me $50! Happy New Year and thanks I said
He probably thought you were homeless. If you aren't I would donate the money to charity.
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You’d best hand in your ozbargain licence. Every one of those is 10c you are literally throwing away. Why go to the effort of removing labels and crushing them when you could put hem aside and turn them into cash.