08-28-2010, 12:41 AM
Scrap Theft Laws-Why We Need Them
Scrap thieves are people who steal metals for their recyclable value. The problem is that most do not care if they are following sound environmental practices. They also sometimes steal things that are not meant to be discarded. All they care about is the metal. On this page we have some links to some news stories regarding this problem. Recent metal prices have spurred this activity on.
Some other issues related to these scavengers are that they do not care about road safety either. Trucks are sometimes loaded dangerously and are not maintained properly. Think that this doesn't affect you? It does, when they dump the discarded components that metal processing facilities won't take, taxpayers foot the bill for clean up. Not to mention, that most of these guys are not only looking for metal to steal but anything valuable. That could include your lawnmower, or your child's bike. Please look at some of these news stories and think about this problem from a broader prospective.
Steel thieves delay the opening of the Cahokia bridge. Go to channel 4's website to view clip.
Thieves steal veterans' grave markers for scrap.
Recycling thieves thrive in S.F., NYC, elsewhere
Joe Truini
It's a wacky world when one's trash isn't even safe from thieves.
Organized theft of curbside recyclables is increasing in frequency, as well as brazenness, creating financial and safety issues for municipalities, their recycling contractors and residents.
Fleets of vehicles sweep through cities and towns in the wee hours of the morning to beat city crews and private haulers to the bounty in the recycling carts.
``This is an illegal, underground commercial economy that trades in cash,'' said Robert Reed, a spokesman for Norcal Waste Systems Inc. in San Francisco. ``This is the top issue that we hear about from our customers, that our drivers hear about out on routes, that we hear about on our Web s! ite. Number one issue.''
Recycling poachers are stealing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of recyclables in California, said Joe Garbarino Jr., chairman of Marin Sanitary Service, which operates in Marin County, Calif. He estimated they make off with 60 to 70 percent of the material before his trucks get to it.
``It's an epidemic that could possibly drive the refuse industry out of the business because we're sending trucks out, paying union wages, spending a quarter of a million dollars for each truck and when we get out there, they've stolen all the material,'' he said. ``All of a sudden now, we've got all these people going out all night long, coming into our recycling centers with pickup loads and nobody's doing a damn thing about it and I don't think anybody cares.''
Not only are they stealing recyclables, but many of the trucks often are registered under the same address and are not certified, as they should! be, under California law.
``These are businesses,'' Reed s aid. ``These are groups. These are illegal fleets. They're operating outside the law.''
New York Department of Sanitation police impounded 28 vehicles last month used to steal curbside recyclables under a law passed last year giving the city the right to do so. It enacted the law, which also increased fines to up to $2,000 for first time offenders to combat the growing problem.
The Massachusetts municipalities of Quincy, Braintree and Weymouth are losing $120,000 per year from curbside theft, said Rosemary Nolan, solid waste coordinator for the Tri Town Alliance. The towns get a portion of the revenue from the sale of recyclables from their recycling vendor, but organized groups begin hitting the streets at midnight and are done by 6:15 a.m., knowing that the first collection trucks can't start picking up curbside material until 7 a.m. due to local noise and nuisance ordinances, she said.
``Scavengers are getting there first in the middle of the nigh! t,'' Nolan said. ``Locally, there has been the theory that items placed curbside are the public domain.''
Ultimately, taxpayers and homeowners pay for the theft, Reed said. Cities lose revenue from the sale of recyclables and have to increase garbage and recycling fees to make up for it.
``We're passing the loss onto the public. It's that simple,'' Garbarino said.
In Ocean City, Md., scavengers aren't targeting single-family household curbside containers. They're smart and organized enough to go after the big haul  condominiums with large collection containers, said Steven Brown, assistant superintendent of solid waste and public works for Ocean City.
``We have got a real problem right now,'' he said.
The city gets 350,000 tourists in town on a good weekend, and a local ordinance requires condominiums with three or more units to purchase recycling containers from the city to give owners and renters an opportuni! ty to recycle.
Some 20 or so usual suspects cruise the early mornin g hours on a daily basis, hitting up the condos before city crews. And many of them don't even bother being discreet, he said.
``Most of the ones that come in here, they've got their names on their truck,'' Brown said.
But there isn't much the city can do. It doesn't have a law on the books like New York to prosecute curbside theft. The best it possibly could do is get some of the homeowners to help prosecute the thieves for trespassing, he said.
``I've begged the police to do something, but unless we see them in a city container, that's the only way we can do anything,'' Brown said.
Norcal has asked residents to send pictures and license numbers of the offending vehicles to police. The company put a form on its Web site to allow residents to document complaints, some of whom have been threatened by thieves.
``In [some] communities, the police engage and they stop this kind of activity,'' Reed said. ``But in othe! r communities, the police have not engaged, and it's expanding and proliferating.''
Police in some cities don't take the matter seriously and prosecutors don't bother bringing cases because the individual theft amounts aren't high enough, Garbarino said. He would like to propose legislation to distribute some of the unclaimed California container deposits among the state's police departments to pay for an officer to patrol the city at night specifically looking for recycling poachers.
``Otherwise, I feel like I'd like to quit now,'' he said. ``It's that bad. It's terrible.''
Contact Waste News reporter Joe Truini at (330) 865-6166 or <!-- e --><a href="mailto:jtruini@crain.com">jtruini@crain.com</a><!-- e -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.midwestappliancerecyclers.com/2030087.html">http://www.midwestappliancerecyclers.com/2030087.html</a><!-- m -->
Scrap thieves are people who steal metals for their recyclable value. The problem is that most do not care if they are following sound environmental practices. They also sometimes steal things that are not meant to be discarded. All they care about is the metal. On this page we have some links to some news stories regarding this problem. Recent metal prices have spurred this activity on.
Some other issues related to these scavengers are that they do not care about road safety either. Trucks are sometimes loaded dangerously and are not maintained properly. Think that this doesn't affect you? It does, when they dump the discarded components that metal processing facilities won't take, taxpayers foot the bill for clean up. Not to mention, that most of these guys are not only looking for metal to steal but anything valuable. That could include your lawnmower, or your child's bike. Please look at some of these news stories and think about this problem from a broader prospective.
Steel thieves delay the opening of the Cahokia bridge. Go to channel 4's website to view clip.
Thieves steal veterans' grave markers for scrap.
Recycling thieves thrive in S.F., NYC, elsewhere
Joe Truini
It's a wacky world when one's trash isn't even safe from thieves.
Organized theft of curbside recyclables is increasing in frequency, as well as brazenness, creating financial and safety issues for municipalities, their recycling contractors and residents.
Fleets of vehicles sweep through cities and towns in the wee hours of the morning to beat city crews and private haulers to the bounty in the recycling carts.
``This is an illegal, underground commercial economy that trades in cash,'' said Robert Reed, a spokesman for Norcal Waste Systems Inc. in San Francisco. ``This is the top issue that we hear about from our customers, that our drivers hear about out on routes, that we hear about on our Web s! ite. Number one issue.''
Recycling poachers are stealing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of recyclables in California, said Joe Garbarino Jr., chairman of Marin Sanitary Service, which operates in Marin County, Calif. He estimated they make off with 60 to 70 percent of the material before his trucks get to it.
``It's an epidemic that could possibly drive the refuse industry out of the business because we're sending trucks out, paying union wages, spending a quarter of a million dollars for each truck and when we get out there, they've stolen all the material,'' he said. ``All of a sudden now, we've got all these people going out all night long, coming into our recycling centers with pickup loads and nobody's doing a damn thing about it and I don't think anybody cares.''
Not only are they stealing recyclables, but many of the trucks often are registered under the same address and are not certified, as they should! be, under California law.
``These are businesses,'' Reed s aid. ``These are groups. These are illegal fleets. They're operating outside the law.''
New York Department of Sanitation police impounded 28 vehicles last month used to steal curbside recyclables under a law passed last year giving the city the right to do so. It enacted the law, which also increased fines to up to $2,000 for first time offenders to combat the growing problem.
The Massachusetts municipalities of Quincy, Braintree and Weymouth are losing $120,000 per year from curbside theft, said Rosemary Nolan, solid waste coordinator for the Tri Town Alliance. The towns get a portion of the revenue from the sale of recyclables from their recycling vendor, but organized groups begin hitting the streets at midnight and are done by 6:15 a.m., knowing that the first collection trucks can't start picking up curbside material until 7 a.m. due to local noise and nuisance ordinances, she said.
``Scavengers are getting there first in the middle of the nigh! t,'' Nolan said. ``Locally, there has been the theory that items placed curbside are the public domain.''
Ultimately, taxpayers and homeowners pay for the theft, Reed said. Cities lose revenue from the sale of recyclables and have to increase garbage and recycling fees to make up for it.
``We're passing the loss onto the public. It's that simple,'' Garbarino said.
In Ocean City, Md., scavengers aren't targeting single-family household curbside containers. They're smart and organized enough to go after the big haul  condominiums with large collection containers, said Steven Brown, assistant superintendent of solid waste and public works for Ocean City.
``We have got a real problem right now,'' he said.
The city gets 350,000 tourists in town on a good weekend, and a local ordinance requires condominiums with three or more units to purchase recycling containers from the city to give owners and renters an opportuni! ty to recycle.
Some 20 or so usual suspects cruise the early mornin g hours on a daily basis, hitting up the condos before city crews. And many of them don't even bother being discreet, he said.
``Most of the ones that come in here, they've got their names on their truck,'' Brown said.
But there isn't much the city can do. It doesn't have a law on the books like New York to prosecute curbside theft. The best it possibly could do is get some of the homeowners to help prosecute the thieves for trespassing, he said.
``I've begged the police to do something, but unless we see them in a city container, that's the only way we can do anything,'' Brown said.
Norcal has asked residents to send pictures and license numbers of the offending vehicles to police. The company put a form on its Web site to allow residents to document complaints, some of whom have been threatened by thieves.
``In [some] communities, the police engage and they stop this kind of activity,'' Reed said. ``But in othe! r communities, the police have not engaged, and it's expanding and proliferating.''
Police in some cities don't take the matter seriously and prosecutors don't bother bringing cases because the individual theft amounts aren't high enough, Garbarino said. He would like to propose legislation to distribute some of the unclaimed California container deposits among the state's police departments to pay for an officer to patrol the city at night specifically looking for recycling poachers.
``Otherwise, I feel like I'd like to quit now,'' he said. ``It's that bad. It's terrible.''
Contact Waste News reporter Joe Truini at (330) 865-6166 or <!-- e --><a href="mailto:jtruini@crain.com">jtruini@crain.com</a><!-- e -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.midwestappliancerecyclers.com/2030087.html">http://www.midwestappliancerecyclers.com/2030087.html</a><!-- m -->