Recent Shipment of Green Pay-As-You Throw Bags “Defective”
Decatur Metro | August 27, 2010From Catherine over at The Decatur Minute…
he City of Decatur Public Works Sanitation Division is working to resolve an issue with a defective Pay-As-You-Throw bag shipment from the bag manufacturer. It appears that the problem is isolated to the green, 8-gallon bags. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. If you have received defective bags please return them to the retail store where they were purchased in order to receive replacement bags. You may also take the defective bags to the Public Works Office at 2635 Talley Street in Decatur and receive replacement bags. We are checking the bag inventory to ensure that defective bags are not delivered to the retail stores.
If you have any questions, please call David Junger, Assistant City Manager, at 404-377-5571 or email david.junger@decaturga.com .
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This was so annoying, but we’ve tossed all ours already.
They are annoying on all levels–hate those PAYT bags– they rip all the time, no matter what the color; often have to rebag. Now that’s saving the environment–NOT!
cranky, my experience with PAYT bags is not the same as yours. I have been using them since the beginning and I find I can and do stuff them full with no problem. I have had a few punctures from objects in the bag, but never had one rip.
Cranky, like Steve, I’ve never had a problem with any of the PAYT bags. I read the complaints, and acknowledge them, but have never once in 7 years had any of these. And no, I don’t generally lead a charmed life.
I have a failure rate of about 70% with the yellow bags. They rip at the seam between the drawstring and bag. Been happening for roughly 8 months. I usually have to double bag them.
Also, this happens regardless of load weight or type of trash can the bag is placed in.
Our green bags have been ripping apart from the seems for a while now and Publix seems to always be out of the yellow bags. I just bought both colors today, so we’ll see how many tear.
the PATY bags are very poor quality. the city should do something about this.
The thing that make me crazy about PAYT bags is that a lot of people use regular white tall kitchen bags and then stuff those plastic bags into the large blue PAYT bags… increasing plastic consumption threefold.
The other thing that bugs me is that I see people putting out regular white bags all the time and the garbage guys pick them up just like the PAYT bags.
My understanding is that PAYT reduced trash loads and increased recycling loads back when they were implemented (around 2000, right?). However, I wonder if they would still be a benefit since there is so much more awareness of environmental issues. Would our walk & roll to school/local food/chicken raising/rain barrel toting/community garden building citizens stop recycling if we moved away from the bags?
My guess though is that these are more of a revenue tool than an environmental tool.
The whole system is lame.
Thank you, DM, for posting this.
I wish the announcement had been more specific — the bottom of the green bags I have are not sealed. It’s not the usual neck pulling off when you lift it but an entirely new delightful issue.
Maybe that’s the silver lining? When the bottom drops out the tie string at the neck doesn’t have a chance to pull off!
I was peeved about the trash on my floor. I was disappointed when I wrote the City and found out they already knew there was a problem but had not put the word out, and now I find I am perplexed at the wording they chose.
I have a roll of those defective green bags…. made for a particularly slapstick trash morning a couple of weeks ago. I tied the bag and pulled it out of the can… The bag came and the trash stayed. So I put another bag over the top of the can and flipped it over. When I lifted that bag off the floor, again the bag lifted…and well, apparently there wasn’t a bag bottom to speak of. Complete mess….litter, scallops, the works…. I swept up all the trash into a white kitchen bag and mopped the floor. I set the white bag on the street and the trash crew picked it up… I have a new roll now and they seem to be working…. but I will take my leftover defective ones to public works… I was planning on calling them.
I thought all pay-as-you-throw bags were defective.
Most of my PAYT bags rip. Especially the yellow. It’s terrible and I would never ever consider putting my trash directly into them. I assumed several months ago that there had been just one too many cost savings, production changes and now they are all terrible. Of course this is particularly frustrating because there is no way to switch to a better product. I hate all the extra plastic.