West Auckland residents are fed up with their prepaid rubbish tags being stolen from council bins.

Tracie Byerley said she recently put her bin out in the early evening before rubbish collection day and when she returned to put extra rubbish in the bin at 10pm the tag was gone.

The Te Atatū South resident said she was forced to attach another tag so the bin would still be collected.

Byerley said she rang the council the next day and asked for a reimbursement for the tag, but the council employee refused.

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Council told her people needed to report the theft so they could tell the rubbish collector to still empty the bin, she said.

SIMON SMITH/STUFF Some residents say their rubbish tags are being stolen.

"I asked him if a staff member could simply go and buy a tag and post it to me and he laughed."

Orange rubbish bags were replaced with a new pay-as-you-throw bin system in West Auckland in October 2017.

The changes were part of a wider move to bring the entire city under the same rubbish rules by 2020.

On a recent Neighbourly social meda post, another resident said she put the bin out right before the truck came in order for the tag not to get stolen.

Other comments on the post suggested it was common for tags to be stolen

New Lynn resident Karen Lockie said her bin tag was stolen and the bin was not emptied as a result of there being no tag.

Lockie said she rang the council every day for two weeks with the council promising to send out contractors to pick up the rubbish but she had no luck.

"After the first week I staged a rubbish in, similar to a sit in, and said I would be dumping my accumulated rubbish at the council in Henderson. Which I did."

Electronic tags could be a more successful alternative, but ultimately rubbish collection should be free, she said.

Bin tags cost $3.80 for a 140l bin. If the bin does not have a tag the rubbish would not be collected.

Auckland Council waste solutions manager Ian Stupple said they serviced 60,000 bins in West Auckland, and each week council received about 20 complaints about missing tags.

"While this issue affects a small proportion of bins overall, we take all of these instances seriously."

Council was working towards an electronic system.

"We will try and introduce this as soon as feasible and are looking to have it in place by 2020."

Residents who were concerned about missing tags should contact the council, he said.

"We have worked to make the tags as secure as they can be. There are security features on the tag that mean it cannot be reused if it is removed."

Stupple said if tags were being stolen, residents could put the bin out on the morning of collection day, or only attach the tag in the morning.

"Writing your address on your tag in the space provided is another good deterrent."