Curbside collection Woe's and Cons

Hey all just wanted to stir up some healthy discussion of the Pro's and Cons of Residential Automatic Curbside collection and recycling. Some years back when I first started scrapping in the bay area, there was regular rear loaders coming by with a crew to get the garbage and they fed anything and everything into the jaws of doom. I would find great items on the curb all the time. Radiators, ceiling fans, rain gutters, busted lawn equipment, smaller crt's, house fan, monitors, a/v cosumer goods. Rarely is that the case anymore. It usually ends up inside the big blue containers at the end of the driveways. Nowadays I have to drive by apartment open top/bulk dumpsters for cool stuff. I plan on adding college campus/apartments dumpsters as a tip I heard about for e-scrap.

Is it taboo to go through the blue bins?? I have found stuff from blue bins only if the lid was ajar and it was sticking out in plain view. I don't think I would make it a regular thing, but it would be curious to know other viewpoints. Also, when I had my truck with an enclosed fencing, I always thought about if it were legal to go out on recycling pick-up with a friend and grab up all the cans from the curbside through various neighborhoods?? Would the city have someone arrested for that as stealing a revenue source??

If it is sticking out of a can where i can see it I will stop, but not gonna stop and look in every can. As for taking aluminum cans if they are in recycle bins that the city provided leave them be, cities tend to get their panties in a bunch about that. People will call the law and yes you can get arrested for theft of property. I have so many people that give me cans now just cause they know i scrap. Easy to ask for, as with any other scrap i see, i stop, i ask, worse they can say is no. Make connections and let people know what you are interested in. A lot of the cans i get now are from people that used to put them out for the city.

the city of philadelphia looks the other way at that but the suburban counties dont....been savin my own cans and others save them for me but i dont do the bins...best can is the bottle can by bud...heavy..hard to crush even

You are asking the wrong people about the legality. You need to check with your town/city and county to find out if it's illegal. Should be on their website. Chances are, though, if it's a recycling bin then it's the property of the city or county as soon as it hits the ground by the curb. So that would be considered stealing or scavenging.