Trash Scavengers

It's a common phenomenon that can be found in cities and suburbs. Where I live, I see the nocturnal ones out and about the night before trash pick-up day. They travel (sometimes in pairs) with hefty bags in tow. Most of them seek aluminum soda cans. Sometimes they will include plastic soda bottles as well. If they are mindful of size and space, they may crush the can with their feet. The skilled ones carry a flashlight, wear gloves, and sometimes drive to their destination. They will do a block at a time and then move.
The sadder ones are the ones who are out and about during the day. They examine pubic (municipal) trash receptacles on the street. They can also be found rummaging through the trash receptacles at service stations. A few times when I have seen older ones, I have been known to go into my trunk and hand them a few single-use gloves. (I have also passed along hand sanitizer when I have a quantity of it).
Law-abiding tax-paying citizens find outrage in all of this. Why? They claim that the city is losing money when these recyclables are taken away. Do they actually think that the city 'gives back' the rebates it receives from these recyclables? Personally, I worry more about strangers having access to my trash. It's not as if I toss away unwanted credit cards, or the list of passwords to my Swiss accounts, but still I am not all that crazy about the personal violation.
I could shred everything. I could also bring my cans to work (there is always SOMEONE who collects them... much like there is always SOMEONE who sells TUPPERWARE, AVON, or has a daughter who sells GIRL SCOUT cookies). But I don't. I also don't drink soda and I doubt that these recycling scavengers are too interested in my tossed can DAKOTA PRIDE baked beans with the lid attached since I am too lazy to completely remove it.
It's just one of those aspects of life that I see once a week or so and give pause to wonder about.