@Condobloke :-
I don't know what things are like in the part of Oz where you live, Brian, but some of us were discussing something along these lines in a thread on the Puppy Forums a few years back.
Barry K. was saying about having found an almost brand-new Dell Optiplex on the kerb-side one trash collection day, near where he lives. We then got talking about how things "worked" at the local recycling centres. He was saying that if you took summat to the centre to recycle - and changed your mind at the last moment - to NOT make the mistake of allowing it to touch the ground. Because if you DID - and I concurred with this, because it's exactly the same at our recycling centres, here in the UK! - once it's made contact with the ground, it instantly becomes "their" property. If you change your mind at this point, and put it back in your boot, in "their" eyes, you're committing theft.......you're stealing "their" property.
So if, for instance, somebody else likes the look of "your" trash, and thinks they could do summat with it, it's fine if it goes straight from your boot into their boot.....so long as it doesn't touch the ground in the process. Mostly, this has to do with the fact that OUR local councils over here make a bit of money on the side by operating a "shop" on the premises, and selling good-condition 'trash' that they think somebody else might be prepared to pay good money for. Essentially, they see your 'removing' something that's made contact with the ground as cheating
them out of revenue.....
Laws around this kind of thing vary greatly from country to country.......and even from one area to another within the SAME country. It's worth checking the local bye-laws if you're planning on going dumpster-diving!
It CAN be a bit of a minefield.
Mike.