Man climbs into Sengkang textile recycling bin, retrieves donated items & passes them to woman

A man somehow climbed into a textile recycling bin in Sengkang on Feb. 16, and was caught on camera passing the items from the bin to a woman nearby.

The incident

A clip of the unusual sight was shared to the sgfollowsall Telegram group the same day.

A woman was seen walking up to the yellow bin to collect bags of items from the man, who was apparently rummaging inside the bin.

She then sat down at a nearby bench to sift through the donated items, while occasionally looking around at her surroundings.

Some of the items she picked out included clothes and a pair of shoes.

This modus operandi was caught on video for about 10 minutes.

The man subsequently emerged from the bin through the narrow opening, seemingly satisfied with his haul.

The woman was also seen filming the man climbing out of the bin.

A witness told sgfollowsall that the incident took place at around 12:30am on Feb. 16.

The witness claimed that the pair was loitering near the bins before the man climbed in to rummage among the donated items for valuables.

Commonly sighted around neighbourhoods, the yellow bins were installed by local clothes swap organisation Cloop.

They are meant for textile recycling and not for freebies.

Cloop statement

In response to Mothership's enquiries, a Cloop spokesperson said that the Telegram post has been brought to their attention.

"There have been a number of similar situations before, where people have attempted to take items from the textile recycling bins," said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson said Cloop has been working with its recycling partner, Lifeline Clothing, to mitigate such incidents.

Its current preventive measures include installing surveillance cameras in areas with high recycling volume, positioning bins near existing CCTVs, and working with the community to monitor the bins.

Those who have witnessed an incident involving the bins are advised to record the date and time of the incident and the bin number.

They can then submit these details via Cloop’s website enquiry page or via WhatsApp at 80338220.

The spokesperson said: "Cloop deeply appreciates the community serving as our eyes on the ground, caring for and safeguarding the textile recycling bins in their neighbourhood!"

Top image from sgfollowsall/Telegram