Waste warrior: One man vs ‘criminal’ retail rubbish 

At SunSkips, we advocate for the value of waste, getting as much as we possibly can from all the rubbish that comes through our sites in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.

Whether we’re recycling waste through our multi-step screening line or sending rubbish off to be converted into useful energy, there’s plenty of worth in the stuff we throw away.

But not everybody prioritises the environment when managing their waste, and one UK man has taken it upon himself to liberate mismanaged “rubbish” worth thousands.

Skip scavenger

Martyn, who goes by “UK DUMPSTER KINGS” on YouTube and prefers not to reveal his surname, is a full-time “dumpster diver”.

He believes that the way shops throw away perfectly good items is incredibly wasteful and that it’s his responsibility to stop it going to landfill.

“It’s an incredible amount of money,” said Martyn. “I grew up in a struggling family when I was a child. One day, I found food in a Tesco dumpster and it all started there.”

Martyn has found top toys with only torn packaging, designer footwear and even iPhones in retail bins.

He spends around 12 hours a week going through bins and the rest of his week fixing things up, selling and making drop-offs for charities.

“I donate 90% of what I find to charity,” he said. “I like to donate to independent charities. I’ve been behind a few food banks and they throw away so much stuff.”

But despite his altruistic activities, there are some that accuse him of breaking the law.

‘I’m not the criminal’

Taking things from skips is a bit of a legal grey area in the UK.

Technically, once items are thrown away, they are no longer considered anyone’s property.

However, going through waste containers on private premises or under contract with a skip hire company like SunSkips isn’t 100% above board because it’s trespassing.

But Martyn is adamant that the crimes committed by corporations shirking their responsibility to sustainable waste management are far more egregious.

He said, “I’d like the shops to do better. We’re all forced to do so much for the environment and blamed, but on a commercial level they waste so much!

“It’s criminal what they’re doing! I only search general waste bins, everything that isn’t recyclable should go there. Stuff like cardboard and plastic should be recycled, but I see that stuff all the time!”

MORE: Is it illegal to take things from a skip?

‘So much stuff’

Some shops go so far as to smash up perfectly good items and rip up out-of-season clothes. According to Greenmatters, this is because it makes the items a tax write-off, even if destroyed intentionally, and protects the value of the retailer’s merchandise by ensuring no one gets their stuff for free.

MORE: The five Rs of waste management: Refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle

But according to Martyn, not all retailers are so environmentally unfriendly.

“The worst for recycling is Smyths Toys,” he said. “They throw away an incredible amount of stuff. The best places are the ones I get the least from, places like Currys, Homebase, and Argos.”

SunSkips does not advocate rummaging through private waste bins because of the legal, health and safety issues, but agrees that companies must do better to prevent perfectly good waste going to landfill.