The local council here has a rule that the bins should be left on your own property, at the edge of the property not on the pavement. With an exemption only for property where there is no front garden.
The contractors staff are supposed to put them back where they got them from, but that only happens sometimes, some of the staff are meticulous about doing it properly.
Round here, the bins remain the property of the council.
I am not a lawyer, but I am wondering if moving someone else's bin and leaving it on the pavement could possibly be a legal problem for the mover of the bin, as in the mover getting fined or being legally liable for damages if someone walks into a bin left on the pavement by the mover, or both penalties.
I think that when it comes down to basics, the pavement is The Queen's Highway and obstructing The Queen's Highway is the issue.