Legalities of Dumpster Diving?

Many states may have different laws but in Florida trash, unless the receptical is on private property, falls under "public domain". Meaning it is free to the public. It would probably help to search that term in the local penal codes.

Here almost ALL the grocery stores encourage "gleaning," but this isn't dumpster diving at all. The boxes are either set out back OR they are kept inside and the people coming for them have to be on lists or assigned to certain days. Food that has passed it's date is normally tossed here. The food banks get good quality food to give out.

I have never heard of any store giving permission for any one to go through their dumpsters. One lady, although not dumpster diving, had climbed up the side to push down her trash, when she slipped and tore off her kneecap. It was a gruesome freak accident. Here, dumpsters are large and made of steel, usually, with the occasional plastic ones. None would be easy to pull anything out of.

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Christie Acres
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Here is my .03 cents, based on my employment at a nationally known farm supply store. I received freight, ran the warehouse, and part of my job duties included making sure the other employees broke down the boxes and took out the trash and placed it in the dumpster, and that no freight was snuck out the back door inside 'empty' boxes by employees to be retreived later, all as per corporate policy. Dumpster was indeed on private property, contents of the dumpster were still the property of the store until such time as it was loaded into the garbage truck, when it became their property. All as per company policy.

However, I had no control over dumpster divers who would dive after I left for the day, and when the store was closed at night. Frankly, I personally didn't care. Personally, I felt that if anyone was brave enough to get inside that dumpster with all the broken pallets, glass, metal banding and damaged expanded metal discards, the feces-covered toilet paper from the restrooms, the wads of tobacco spit and cups full of tobacco spit, the loaded diapers, the occasional paper towels full of vomit, the two month old food leftovers from the employee refrigerator, the maggot-infested fermenting livestock feed, the occaisonal dead chick, duck, wharf rat, etc., swollen ruptured cans of rotten cat food, discarded used condoms from the dressing rooms, big brass staples from cardboard boxes, etc..... hey, they could go for it, I didnt' care.

HOWEVER... the only time I ever threatened to call the police on anyone was when I went to work two days in a row, and opened the back door to find the entire contents of the dumpster spread all over the ground. It took me almost an hour each time to repack the dumpster. The next morning I was there a bit earlier waiting for the early feed truck, and heard someone banging around in the dumpster out back. I opened the door and caught two people standing in the dumpster, with a couple of empty boxes already out on the ground. I wrote down their license plate number and the make/model of their pickup, and told them I didn't care if they got stuff out of the dumpster, but if I had to clean it up once more, I had their plate number and their descriptions, and I'd darn sure call the cops on them. It never happened again.

Anyway, be aware that some stores have a policy of not allowing dumpster divers for safety reasons---those listed above. You could get cut, sliced, or infected on something. And believe me, there was plenty in that dumpster to get cut or gouged on.

The reason this store had the policy that the dumpster contents were theirs until picked up was to prevent people from fishing something out of the dumpster and trying to return it to the store (or another store) for either refund or store credit. Lots of stores won't give you a cash refund if you don't have a receipt, but some will give you store credit. People would take a broken item out of the dumpster and bring it in the front door and try to return it. That is also why damaged and discarded items are spray painted either red or yellow (red for store discard, yellow for manufacturer discard); so that unscrupulous people won't try to return items fished out of the dumpster. I would spray the bejeebers out of it, too. Usually in an inconspicuous place so that if someone did dumpster dive, they could at least get the use out of an item anyway. That way, I'd be covered by having spray painted the items as per company policy. And yes, employees can and do get fired for knowingly letting people dumpster dive. It creates a potential liability for the company. Someone gets hurt or infected, and even thought it's private property, they can still sue.

But like I said (and I worked in loss prevention for a while before quitting) I had no control over what happened when I wasn't there.

I just came up with an idea. For any who feel they have the time to "dumpster" dive and the inclination to do it? Go park, not on the private property, but near it where you can drop off recycling... Bring a chair, get comfy, and just WAIT. When people pull up, there is no reason why you can't ask what they are dumping today, let them know you would like to help in return for some things you want. There are large dumpsters for items, not trash, and there are often very usable items in them. Last time we were dropping off our recycle (larger one with a lot of bins, everything separated), I got an idea. Since I need newspaper for a large garden project and we rarely buy them, I just found my source. We can just go there every week or two with our recycle and ask for the newspapers people are going to dump there.

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Christie Acres
www.SequimForLife.com
http://www.irealtyvirtualbrokers.com...lori-christie/
http://luxurywaterviewhomes.com/
SequimLiving@gmail.com

pick away i will nut if you are confronted say your sorry that you didnt understand it was against the rules suck up and get out of dodge


that is completely true and though the police paid to get it through congress and passed as a law of the public domain the law PROTECTS the diver :banana02: no this doesnt mean go into someones garage to get trash but when its on the curb or behind a store

"It better to ask for forgivness, then ask for permission" PRICELESS! i love it

i used to dive behind a produce store not for me to eat but for my grandparents hogs we used to have them set it aside we would pick it up return there containers CLEAN and not only did we save on feed not only did the hogs enjoy it but we enjoyied the hogs we started diving because the owners used to set some aside for another man who had rabbits well one of the rabbits swallowed a rubber band that was around the lettuse and died BAM lawsuit no more scraps for us but he doesnt mind as long as we are not drawing attention to oursleves


when i lived in hawaii last year MOST of our studio apartment was furnished with item on the curb dressers suitcases tv's EVERYTHING and large item only get picked up once a month so at the end of every month there must have been a furniture store on every curb

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WOW VERY GOOD POST,
As the trashman I wanna cry over some of the stuff we crush and haul but belive me there isnt room in the truck cab for all the treasures!

In Indiana, it is illegal to dumpster dive.

Most of the time, though, I don't think anyone cares. Dumpster diving isn't for me, but if you like it, go for it.

And something else to consider, if dumpster diving folks are inclined to be considerate...

If you make a horrible mess, an employee has to go clean it up. ALL of us who have worked retail know that our time is extremely valuable. Retail employees have not only their regular duties to perform, but often other duties as well. For example, when I first started working there, I received the freight. But that wasn't my only duty. I did MUCH more than just scanning in freight. Every day of the week, Monday through Friday, I had other tasks (various inventory control duties) assigned which HAD to be completed in order to maintain the store's inventory correctly thus reducing 'shrink', which is financial loss. I also had to work the service counter, work the front as relief cashier, load out feed and gates/cattle panels, unload trucks, and one day a week I had to buff the floors. SO when I had to take an hour each time to repack the dumpster, it SERIOUSLY impacted my entire schedule, and I ended up not taking lunch those two days, and had to stay late about 15 minutes in order to keep on my schedule. Yes, time really IS that structured in some places, so that extra time spent cleaning up some inconsiderate, lazy, slovenly IDIOTS mess cost me hard. Yes, I was furious about it, and had I caught them, I would INDEED have called the police.

Just an aside---the assistant manager called the police once because someone was down inside the dumpster trying to retreive some broken power tools. The police DID enforce the store's policy over who 'owned' the contents of the dumpster. Dumpster was on private property, and the contents were still store owned. YMMV, of course, but I wouldn't bet on the police not backing up a store's policy.

So if anyone is going to dumpster dive, please have a modicum of consideration for the employees of the store. They are like every one of you who works--they are just trying to do what they're supposed to do and keep their job. They don't need you making their life harder because you want to get something out of the darn dumpster.

Where I live the police told me a person can dumpster dive IF the dumpster, trash can, etc. are on public property such as the alley rights of way. IF the container is on private property it would be trespassing to access it.

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In the CITY of St Louis it is illegal, a misdemeanor, to dumpster dive.

Since we don't know where YOU are, you really don't have YOUR answer, do you?

Mon

Just to back up what JuliaAnn says:

My friend works for a retail store that is mom and pop owned. Sometimes they throw scrap steel into the dumpster.

They've know for years that people dumpster dive for that steel, as well as the pallets.

They could have cared less who was picking the dumpster...that was, until the divers started leaving big messes. The police were called, who set up a watch for the divers. Those guys that made messes were ticketed, and now the dumpster is double locked.

I take my buggies back in the store, pick up trash off the sidewalk, wipe down my own table in fast-food joints, say ma'am and sir, and try to be the same type person I would be if my mother was looking over my shoulder. _If_ I can find Alabama's views on it, I intend to leave it as neat if not neater than I find it. There's no excuse for adding to another person's work load for something like this, ever. Making use of something headed for the landfill is one thing, being inconsiderate, another.

I don't think it is trespass unless its posted, if the place is open to the public and I can walk in the front doors I can go climb in the dumpster.

seriously they are made to be locked, at least every one I ever seen was.
locking or securing as in behind a gated and locked fence enclosure. would imply
a intent to keep people out.

as someone pointed out earlier the courts have ruled that trash is fair game once it is set out for pick up.

I say unless one of the two criteria I set forth are met, posting or securing it should be legal.

I wholeheartedly approve of dumpster diving, but I also work at a store. There's a lot of money in scrap metal, and we chase people out of our metal dumpster. Yes it's our trash, not inventory, but the dumpster people and my store are swapping a product for a service- the nice people who provide us with the dumpster for free do it so they can get the scrap metal. That way we know that all of our scrap gets taken away, something none of the divers can do for us. No we don't actually care about the metal, but it's rude to do it when we're there and we really don't like people coming on to the lot at night to take things- we have stock out there as well.

If we were talking about discarded inventory, the store would have a real interest in preventing diving. The store would rather sell it than throw it out, and once they decide to throw it out they really don't want it back in circulation.

Just an aside here that isn't about dumpster diving per se.... the post above about being able to walk in the door of a store and thus being entitled to get into the dumpster....

Private property is private property, even though it may be a retail establishment that is open to the public. However, not all parts of the store are open and available for the public to enter. The retail part of the store, restrooms, and parking lot are 'open'. The offices (where most stores keep their safe and security equipment and computer routers, etc) are NOT available to the public, nor are employee breakrooms, warehouses, and utility areas where electric panel, water main, etc. were located. This extends to the dumpster in many retail stores, for reasons I outlined in my previous posts. There are reasons why the general public are not allowed into a store's dumpster, warehouse, or offices; safety and security being the *main* one; customer safety first and foremost, and then employee and property safety. The last several months I worked at the retailer, I had changed positions from freight receiver to loss prevention. This was our corporate policy.

I not trying to argue here, in all your examples of open to the public and closed to the public, what differentiates those areas?

normally signs and locks, areas that the general public is not allowed per policy but a area requiring repeated/regular employee entry/access where locks would prove a hindrance to operations normally have a sign that says "employee's only" "no entry" "keep out" or similar Postings

areas that only certain employees have access to such as a managers office or high dollar merchandise have locks.

again locked/secured or posted.

I do not disagree private property is private property but trespass law here says it is to be posted, and to circumvent locks and fences could be construed as breaking and entry as well as destruction of private property which would also lead to criminal trespass through those acts.

the exception to the posting rule is , if you where found by a representative of the company on company property, and told to leave and not return then upon return you would be guilty of trespass. the same would hold true even in the public areas of the store. if your on private property and told to leave , you are bound by law to do so and it is binding until revoked.

The sadness of all this is the incredible amount of waste in our society.

I never take anything without asking first, and have never been turned down. As the old adage goes... "it never hurts to ask".

Our county's dump has a sign that says "No Scavaging", but I've found that if I ask if I can get something out of the trash either of two things happen. One-they tell me to go for it; or two-the person at the dump will get it out for me. I guess if you don't know the laws for your area; either ask the police or ask permission for each store's dumpster. You'd know you were covered with either.

A LOCK is just on something to keep the honest person out. Just because something may not have a lock on it does not mean geesh I can go in and take what I want.
Just because you can walk past on a public walkway at a mall, and right by that dumpster which is ON mall property, Somebody owns that mall. That Mall IS Private Property, open to the public to shop and Visit stores etc, Not to do whatever they want to do. Malls Are Owned by somebody might to a huge corporation but it is MALL Property. Not for public use everywhere on it. You are a Mall Visitor only

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I agree with asking, though no one will tell you yes as that opens them to litigation, if anything happens. the simple act of leaving the dumpster unsecured would also be a open door to litigation.
and once told no would be the same as "being told to leave". once you have been given warning or it is reasonable to believe that you knowingly are not permitted to be there then you would be guilty of trespassing.

there are places that are happy to leave items that they know people are going to dig for along side the dumpster. avoids lots of issues. most corporate company's policy does not permit such though.

but if you really wanted to stretch it a little, by putting a desirable object in the dumpster and not securing it, the company in question is creating a hazardous situation, or setting a event in motion, and really quite liable for damages.

that is why many have the compactor non accessible type dumpsters or the dumpster is in a fenced area. by no means is it for beauty. it is to prevent access and provide a defense against liability.