To be fair, that’s actually quite correct.
In most jurisdictions one could be arrested and charged with petty theft or equivalent offense if caught taking rubbish out of bins.
In the UK for instance, the waste is still the property of the owner until the council or authorized body comes to collect it, in which case it then becomes their property.
While this sounds retarded on the surface, it’s mostly been left in place for circumstances like pikies stealing scrap iron out of skips can be charged if that’s the only thing you actually have on them.
So unless Patrick’s local authorities have different rules, which I don’t think so, then stealing his garbage is a crime if he bothers to complain about it.