Council Tip - who has ownership of items?

[ikearns]

Morning All

Over the weekend I did the tip run but not at my local site and this time got rid of a few broken slates and also a fire hearth surround. As I was unloading the items a bloke came up and said 'can I have them', as I thought they would go to someone using them I said 'yep, no problem'.

Anyway, the refuse site police were over in a flash and started grabbing the items and saying 'they belong to us now' and refused to give them to the other bloke. I said I hadnt put them in the skip yet and it was up to me what I do with them. The tip police wouldnt let the items go and actually said 'as soon as you drive through the gates it becomes our property'. I immediately said 'do you own all the cars that the people are driving then?' - no response apart from a few mutters.

I then said I had put the items in the car by mistake and I would be taking them home much to the understanding of the other bloke that I would give them to him when we were outside the gates. Even after another 5-10 mins of arguing the tip police reluctantly gave me my items back.

Now I guess this was because they saw some resale value in the brass hearth surround and the slates but it really does beg the question who has rights of ownership on items that you throw out?

Regs

Ian

 

[pete50]

Your council will say the same as what the tip police told you but I would think if you challenged them in a court of law they would have a hard job holding that claim up IF you haven't actually put the items in a skip I don't think it would be worth taking it that far though. That woman on Money for Nothing who makes absolute rubbish out of absolute rubbish and sells it for hundreds of pounds (the mind boggles) has to have permission to take the stuff apparently even though it hasn't gone in a skip when she gets to it.

 

[ikearns]

you haven't actually put the items in a skip

I agree Pete50 and that was the crux of my argument, I hadnt put the items into a skip. The tip police claimed that as I was on their property then all items belonged to them, I would even go as far to say this would be a claim that I dont think the Council would support and it was the idiot at the skip getting all shirty.

 

[Stivino]

At our local recycling centre, it's your property until you actually put it into a skip. Once it's in the skip it is the property of the council.
If the item is still in your car then it's obvious that it is your property.
Those guys told you a lot of rubbish. Does anybody really believe that the contents of your car cease to belong to you because you have driven through the gate of the tip.

 

[mattylad]

They are your items, even if you put them in the skip by mistake they are your items.

The tip workers all generally share in the little agreements they have with a man with a van who collects good stuff to resell in his shop so they get a little over zealous about stuff when they see someone wants to reuse someone else's stuff.

 

[HawkEye244]

I agree Pete50 and that was the crux of my argument, I hadnt put the items into a skip. The tip police claimed that as I was on their property then all items belonged to them, I would even go as far to say this would be a claim that I dont think the Council would support and it was the idiot at the skip getting all shirty.

Amazing you kept your cool I would have lost my sh1t instantly being told what I can and can't do by some little piece of sh1t Hitler council worker.

 

[SammyInnit]

You retain ownership.

There's no two ways. Unless they explicitly state by leaving materials there you are transferring your right to possession (which is unlikely).

They could have just as easily argued your car belongs to them too on the same basis which of course is not possible.

 

[bernardgreen]

There maybe conditions applicable to the use of the site such as "No Trading permitted on the site".

 

[SammyInnit]

There maybe conditions applicable to the use of the site such as "No Trading permitted on the site".

Maybe so but that doesn't mean you forfeit them to glorified bin men.

 

[gasbanni]

Once you've relinquished your hold on the items and are they're in the skip or dropping off point, you've given up ownership of them.

Until that point they're yours ....I suspect the council workers wanted them !! Good on you giving them to someone who can make use of them.

If as they say once you drive on the site it's their property, then it's their job to manhandle them in to the skips surely, or just drop them on the floor for them to move if it's their property !

 

[Mottie]

I’m pretty sure that companies pay for the rights to stuff dropped off at a recycling centre. Normally a friend of someone down there or they leave an 'operative' or two on site to pick out the good stuff.