Is There An Ordinance Against 'Dumpster Diving' In Sarasota County? (contractors, live in)

[wondermint2]

Hi all. I was wondering if anyone knows if there are any ordinances in Sarasota County about dumpster diving? Some counties call them "anti scavenging" ordinances. I tried a search and found an old news article from 1990 that mentioned Sarasota County had such an ordinance. But I couldn't find anything specific about it - or if it's still enacted?

I live across the street from a restaurant - and recently a guy comes around in a big van approximately 9:30PM to 10PM and takes all the glass beer bottles out of the restaurant dumpster. This is a popular restaurant and they throw away a lot of glass bottles (every night around 8Pm to 9pm at night). I'm not sure if the restaurant is giving this guy permission to do it - but I think so.

But any way wouldn't the County be losing out on recycling money this way? The big issue I have with it is that it makes noise at night. I can hear the glass bottles rattling around while this guy is doing his scavenging. He's usually there for about 20 minutes or so. As I said it's a lot of bottles.

If you were in my shoes would you call the police? Thanks for any suggestions.

[Obrero]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

Hi all. I was wondering if anyone knows if there are any ordinances in Sarasota County about dumpster diving? Some counties call them "anti scavenging" ordinances. I tried a search and found an old news article from 1990 that mentioned Sarasota County had such an ordinance. But I couldn't find anything specific about it - or if it's still enacted?

I live across the street from a restaurant - and recently a guy comes around in a big van approximately 9:30PM to 10PM and takes all the glass beer bottles out of the restaurant dumpster. This is a popular restaurant and they throw away a lot of glass bottles (every night around 8Pm to 9pm at night). I'm not sure if the restaurant is giving this guy permission to do it - but I think so.

But any way wouldn't the County be losing out on recycling money this way? The big issue I have with it is that it makes noise at night. I can hear the glass bottles rattling around while this guy is doing his scavenging. He's usually there for about 20 minutes or so. As I said it's a lot of bottles.

If you were in my shoes would you call the police? Thanks for any suggestions.

I wouldn't call the police. I also wouldn't live across the street from a dumpster if I was looking for peace and quiet.

[NYtoOsprey]

No, I wouldn't call the police. A) The restaurant is throwing out bottles. They chose not to recycle and they don't care about the money. Even if they didn't give the guy permission they probably know about it. B) There is a dude that needs the money & the bottles get recycled so that's a good thing.

You can try talking to the restaurant and see if they'd be willing to put the glass bottles aside in a separate box/bin since they are going to get dug out of the dumpster every night anyway and the noise bothers you.

[NYtoOsprey]

Originally Posted by Obrero

I wouldn't call the police. I also wouldn't live across the street from a dumpster if I was looking for peace and quiet.

yeah, this too!

[Harbor Hopper]

How is this guy making money off glass bottles??? FL does not have a deposit program. I can see aluminum can scavenging, but glass???

[gypsychic]

I say leave the guy alone. Maybe he's an artist - who cares? The bottles are getting recycled.

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

I say leave the guy alone. Maybe he's an artist - who cares? The bottles are getting recycled.

Thank you for responding.

IMO easy for you to say leave the guy alone - as you live in peace and quiet.

However if you were in my shoes being bothered by annoying noise - somehow I imagine you'd have a different view of things. Strange how the world works..... Oh the poor guy who's probably breaking the law (violating an ordinance) needs the money. Scr*** the law abiding citizen that just wants peace and quiet.

So is there an ordinance or not? And I thought it was mandatory (law) for businesses to recycle in Sarasota County????

[tarp]

Have you tried talking to the guy who is scavenging?

[wondermint2]

Ah HA!! I found out from the Sarasota County web site that it's MANDATORY for businesses to recycle! So this restaurant owner is not obeying the law. I think I might just "lean" on him a bit about this -

Solid Waste and Recycling Information

From the Sarasota County Government web site:

"The City Commission has approved changes to solid waste services that went into into effect September 1, 2010. The City of Sarasota provides solid waste services, with the help of private contractors, within the city limits. Recycling is mandatory in the City of Sarasota for Residents and Businesses - view the ordinance here. Services include the following:

Collection of garbage, recyclable materials, yard waste, and special waste.

BLUE BIN recyclable materials include: aluminum cans, foil, and food trays without residue; steel/tin cans; glass bottles and jars of all colors; metal jar lids; plastic containers typically marked on the bottom with a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7; (see image below) and polycoated paper cartons (milk and juice cartons and boxes)."

[nphomeowner]

I'd talk to the business owner. I sure like my sleep too and wouldn't want to be rattled out of it every night.