In theory, the same setup could be run with the profits going into the public purse.
They do that in Sweden, tips are run by local government and the larger ones have a second hand shop next door.
So as you drive in there's a covered, drive through, warehouse and anything you think can be saved or recycled gets taken out, reviewed, sorted and either scraped or sold.
As for people taking bikes from the tip, I had a call, many years ago about a local scrote, well known for stealing bikes, who had been arrested whilst riding one of my old bikes. (Easily recognisable, it was a custom made frame in team colours. Probably less than a dozen in existence. Mostly in Italy or Switzerland.)
Except. The frame was a write off, top tube was dented and bent, down tube was bowed. Carbon fork leg was terminally damaged.
The silly shit had pulled it out of the skip along with a moving box full of shagged out campag 8 speed gear that I hadn't even been able to give away. Shark toothed chain rings and cassettes, bent mechs, gouged crank arms, seized brake calipers, ergo powers with no click and cracked lever bodies... Plus a pair of wheels with sidewalls I could flex with my fingers. You get the idea.
It would have killed him eventually.
