Abstract: A refuse bag opener that includes a material metering cylinder and a knife cylinder mounted therein and driven by a suitable power mechanism to rotate in opposite directions to feed bagged refuse therebetween. The metering cylinder and the knife cylinder are disposed in vertical spaced relation with the knife cylinder being the lowermost of the two. The hopper receives the bagged material and by way of a sloping lower wall directs the bagged material towards the knife cylinder. The lower sloped wall has a belt conveyor for direct feeding of the bagged material to the lower cylinder which by virtue of its rotation cuts the bag. The bagged refuse passes between the metering cylinder and the knife cylinder at a relatively even rate. A conveyor feeds the material from a supply source to the hopper and an outfeed conveyor delivers the emptied bags and contents of the bags to a suitable sorting location.