Toronto to target recycling scavengers

TORONTO, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Scavengers who target Toronto's recycling boxes for returnable beer, wine and liquor containers will soon face fines for stealing, city officials said.

Last year, the province of Ontario placed a return value on all containers that contained alcohol, sparking a wave of scavenging and "Dumpster diving" as a means to make money.

However, Geoff Rathbone, the head of the city's solid waste department, told The Globe and Mail a crackdown including $360 fines was coming by the fall.

He said once the recycled materials are placed in plastic boxes at the curb for collection, they become city property.

He said the city is losing money from the loss of aluminum cans, which it sells for more than $2,000 a ton.

"A lot of people tend to think it's providing cash to homeless individuals, whatever, but from a solid-waste perspective, we do want to crack down on it," Rathbone said.

Despite the refundable deposit imposed last year and the associated wave of scavenging, Toronto still collected 13,115 tons of beer, wine and liquor bottles in 2007, the report said.