"And theft is hardly ever reported by companies, because why would they? If magic pixies have nicked their waste cardboard then it means they don't have to pay a firm like mine to come and pick it up. So they are going to keep schtum [quiet]."
So... these gangs are wandering around picking up cardbord from business that would have otherwise had to pay for someone to haul it off? Sounds like a public service! Something is fundamentally wrong here.
That is, unless and until some groundbreaking cost lowering technology comes into existence. Given the physical reality of this work and the slim margins (it's commodities after all), that seems unlikely.
The best angle of attack for this problem from the market/technology perspective is finding ways to economically deliver goods without so much cardboard, since manufacturers and retailers have a strong incentive to reduce the cost of delivering products.
Corruption is the only reason this has ever happened anywhere. In the countryside, which due to lower density is more difficult to serve, multiple trash trucks serve multiple customers and there is no problem.
You can't compare the two like that because they are fundamentally different environments.
In the countryside it makes more sense to contract separately because trash pickup is less frequent and there are so few people in general - definitely not enough to achieve the economies of scale. The trash pickup trucks there are likely involved in lots of other businesses, too. And even with that, a lot of people in the "countryside" just illegally dump trash. They can get away with that because of the low density and lack of enforcement.
In the city, if trash pickup were something that households and business contracted out optionally, a substantial minority of people will not pay for the service at all and instead litter the the high density common environment with their trash. This already happens to a degree, especially with large items and construction debris, and without municipally organized trash removal, it would be even worse.
That sounds like the bigger racket to me.
The ‘criminals’ are just reflecting a more true market value, eg that there should be no pickup fee for the value of this commodity.
Further; surely this represents the best of ‘gangs’. “We’ve got too many Vigelantes out improving the efficiency of recycling in our city and stealing a product that’s being discarded on our streets. Oh dear.”