Scrapping license - Page 3

The rules – which don’t apply to scrappers who collect aluminum cans

I've been thinking about this part of the article and this doesn't make sense either. If the taking of an item from property which is deemed to be owned by the city or state (or even from the devil strips on garbage night) is going to be considered illegal why wouldn't the taking of cans off the side of the roadways be considered illegal also? wouldn't those cans belong to the city or state just like the devil strip items belong to the owners until the time the garbage truck takes them? I've seen where the so called chain gangs pick up the garbage from the sides of roads to be turned in for money which helps pay some bills at the jail so how come its ok for me to walk the roads picking up cans but not ok for me to walk the roads picking up the other items? Yeah, I get the law is to deter theft of mainly copper and big ticket stuff but this little stuff also comes into play here. The law can't apply to only a certain ''type'' of scrapper.