At our local recycling centre you can take unwanted stuff, furniture etc that is still in reasonable order. There is a large container for it all but you are not allowed to remove anything from it if you see something you would like. The council takes it to away and distributes it to charity shops. Dare say if you could take it away there would be a free for all with people loitering about waiting to see what came in and it would jam up the system of lanes.