This is a question I've been asked many times during my time as an adviser in law enforcement so hopefully I can help. The first point to make is that, at all times, the bin and its contents are 'property' in its legal sense. This means that someone always has possessory rights over the items, i.e. they are always 'owned'. The owner can therefore takle a civil action against any other person who interferes with them without consent. Furthermore, criminal liability may also arise where anything is removed from the bin with an intention to permanently deprive the owner of it.
When the bin is on the householder's premises, they have exclusive possessory rights and they are the people who can sue. Once it is on the street for collection it becomes the joint property of the householder and the local authority responsible for its collection. Either party could then sue. Once collected it becomes the property of the local authorty alone.
In practical terms then, removing something to photocopy and return would therefore not fall to be criminal conduct. It would, however, be an actionable trespass to goods under civil (tort) law.
Sorry about the long answer but hopefully this helps.
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