Come and steal mine any time, I won't have a need for it:

http://www.theherald.com.au/blogs/jeff-corbett/a-petty-bin-thief/2155465.aspx

Why on earth don't more Councils install Bedminster Plants to convert their rubbish into compost? Then you only need 2 bins.The Port Stephens plant is the best thing Port Stephens Council has ever done.

The system is a joke. How much time and effort has been wasted delivering the three bin sustem to blocks of flats etc that don't have green waste? And the real insult is you still pay for the pick up service even if you don't use the bin.

extra staff? What planet is Tate on? We need less council staff not more

This new bin system is simply empire building.

More bins means more rubbish capacity, 4 collections per household per fortnight instead of three, more garbage trucks, more drivers and greater environmental harm and more roadway damage.

Council claims you can opt out or change bin size BUT you still pay the full charge.

The garbage system should be 100% user pays with users choosing the bins and bin size they require.

Typical Newcastle SNAFU. High paid officials trying to justify salaries - again.

Here's another example of Local Government doing half the job. Why didn't the Council have some sort of forum with the major local Strata Managers to work through issues like these before they were set up and the bins delivered?

As for the Lord Mayor complaining about the use of a call centre - Get over it. At least this one is in Australia. These people are trained to answer the particular questions. For the Council to employ people for this issue, shows just how out of touch this man is. Thanks heavens he didn't make it to Macquarie Street.

NCC paid state govt $14.4million in Waste Levy last year, because levy is charged on weight of general waste goign to landfill but not on green waste or recycling. Around half of contents in general waste bins is either green waste or is recycleable. Therefore, waste levy can be halved if people change their behaviour and put the right stuff in the right bins. If that happens then this system pays for itself (like it does in the overwhelming majority of councils across the state). If people use the smaller bin and put the right stuff in the bins then they pay no extra, and it's funded by reduced waste levy. Environment wins with no cost to ratepayers = good result. for those that want to keep the big bin and not change their behaviour they'll pay an extra $80 p.a.

I have not used my council bins for years. Putting bins out to have them burnt, stolen or occasionally thrown through shop front windows never made any sense to me. The three bin system now being rolled out to blocks of flats and villa developments where once single houses were has been done without much thought. Most of them don't have enough space to park all the cars motor bikes and even boats owned by people living in them! We through our councils are paying huge amounts to deal with waste and very little to actually process it. I have watched some very instructive TV programs which allow me to understand in some third world countries they recycle up to 80% of what we would call garbage. There is at least one company leading the world by refusing to use any raw material in what they manufacture which they can't recycle. I am reminded of the fresh eggs I once saw stored and carried in a length of thin bamboo which had been split several times along the length, so that six eggs could be placed inside the bamboo. This whole marketing exercise was exploiting product created by mother nature and totally biodegradable.

So you buy more bins than you need, then work out who dosent want or need one. NCC at its best.