I have seen Golden Flow milk crates in the street, in private yards and outside of community institutions.

Q: Am I obligated to return these to the company?

A: Dairy companies do not allow people to take their milk crates, since it is costly to replace them. Thus it would seem that the mitzvah of hashavas aveidah — returning lost objects — should be in force. Nevertheless, although it is prohibited to take the crates, the mitzvah of hashavas aveidah does not apply.

Golden Flow delivers their products in the morning, and at that time the delivery man takes back the empty crates. Therefore the agreement is that the merchant or organization leaves the empty crates where the order is to be delivered. Even though the place is not protected and many crates [in violation of Halachah] are taken, the practice continues because it is the most efficient system.

The company knows that by employing this practice some crates will be “moved” and “borrowed,” yet individuals who find their crates are not obligated to return them. The precedent for this halachah is aveidah midaas — intentional abandonment. One is not responsible for items that the owner intentionally abandoned, like for example a wallet intentionally abandoned in the public domain by the owner. Although it is not considered hefker (ownerless) and the finder may not take it for himself, nevertheless, he is not obligated to return it to the owner (C.M. 261:4). The mitzvah is in force only when the owner behaves responsibly with his possessions and it does not apply to intentionally abandoned possessions, even if the owner has a reasonable explanation for doing so (Ketzos 291:3).

There are authorities who contend that when the owner intentionally abandons something, it becomes truly hefker, and anyone can take it (Rema, C.M. 261:4). Accordingly, one could argue that anyone could take the milk crates. However, this applies only when the owner despairs of recovering his object because there is no expectation that a finder will return it. Items that were not abandoned completely but are susceptible to becoming lost (e.g., objects given to children to hold), although they are categorized as aveidah midaas and the finder is not obligated to return them (C.M. 188:2), nonetheless, they are not considered ownerless and a finder should not keep them for himself as they are partially protected (Nesivos 261:1).

Thus, you may not take a milk crate. A person who took one is obligated to return it to the owner, even though the owner subsequently despaired of retrieving it (see Nachalas David, B.K. 20b).

In general, stolen objects must be returned to the owner’s domain; in this case, however, Golden Flow informed us that anyone who has taken one of their crates could and should return it to a location where they get retrieved. [In the event that one has a large number of crates, call the company directly to make arrangements for pickup.]