The Boston Globe, August 11, 1996:

Advocates for the homeless are protesting that a recent [Cambridge] City Council order barring people from taking cans from curbside recycling bins will hurt desperately poor people who survive by redeeming cans for cash.

The council acted by unanimous vote after hearing complaints from homeowners about noisy, late-night can-pickers. The resolution asks police to help the Department of Public Works enforce a rarely used 1992 law that levies $25 fines against second-time offenders who steal recyclable materials.

Cambridge is one of several cities around the state—including Boston and Somerville—that during the last decade have drafted ordinances saying that cans, bottles and plastic left in curbside recycling bins are the property of the city.

The point behind these laws, officials in these cities say, is to prevent thieves from stealing what little profitability a city might have in its recycling program....

[Ed.: Spurred by concerns over illicit recycling, the Boston City Council proposed to require city residents to place garbage bags on the curb the morning of trash pickup, not the night before.]

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