My home is on private property and the state laws here state that anything
I
have set out on the street for the garbage man is fair game. Check where
you live, it may be the same there.

I don't believe you need permission to go through a garbage dumpster.

Once it hits the curb, it's fair game. Problem for this fellow though is
that he is going on private property to get to the dumpster -- that's
trespassing. All things depending, that could land him in a world of hurt.

James