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Black Refuse Bag Service
The black bag refuse service ceased on 27 November 2009. People will need to make their own arrangements for kerbside refuse disposal. These methods may include:
1. Hire a wheelie bin from Transpacific Industries
2. Hire a wheelie bin from Awamoa Bins & Skips
3. Use the yellow bag service supplied by Transpacific Industries (bags can be purchased at supermarkets)
4. Take your refuse to the Resource Recovery Park, transfer station or landfill
Council will ceased the sale of black bags from 25 September 2009, which allowed two months for people to use up existing supplies. People can still take official black bags to the transfer stations and Palmerston landfill free of charge until 30 June 2010.
Anyone who wishes to exchange stockpiles of Council black bags for Transpacific Industries yellow refuse bags or Awamoa Bins & Skips white recycling bags can do so from 30 November 2009 until 31 January 2010, at either:
• Council headquarters, 20 Thames Street, or
• The Waihemo Centre, Palmerston
Bags will only be exchanged to the equivalent value.
The decision to exit the black bag service follows Council’s decision in the Long Term Council Community Plan to remove the funding of this service from the rates.
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Much discussion has generated on whether we should be using wheelie bins for our rubbish or bags. Wheelie bins are convenient, easy to use and discourage odours and windblown litter - not to mention that sticky mess you sometimes find underneath your bag that you aren’t quite sure where it is coming from! Also with Wheelie Bins you reuse your refuse receptacle.
Refuse bags on the other hand, are generally less convenient, tend to get ripped open by animals when you place them out for collection or when stored outside, and tend to leak. From a waste minimisation point of view refuse bags have one major draw back, they are produced solely to be thrown out. While one refuse bag does not seem to take up a lot of room, a year supply of refuse bags takes up a lot of warehouse room, and at the end of the year, all this material has been disposed of to landfill.
Never the less, refuse bags have one great advantage over wheelie bins, and that is the way you pay for them. People who use wheelie bins are generally charged each time their bin is emptied (weekly, fortnightly or monthly). Therefore someone who generates very little rubbish (i.e. their bin is nearly empty each week) pays the same as someone who’s bin is full each week. Refuse bags are charged per bag. Therefore, the more waste you generate, the more bags you have to purchase and the more you pay. So bags are a fairer way of paying than wheelie bins, and people who minimise their waste pay less!
So which is best?
In the end, it comes down to each household to work out what is best for their circumstance. It’s not the refuse receptacle which matters but how you manage your waste. If you minimise as much as possible, reuse and recycle then it really doesn’t matter whether you put the last bit in a bag or a bin. Just choose what works best for you.