Nearly 8000 householders registered for a 2025/2026 garden waste permit in the first week of the sign-up window.
A total of 7790 applications were processed in seven days after the registration window opened on Monday, 12 May.
Applications can be made using a myeastlothian account on the council’s website until the sign-up window closes at 3pm on Friday, 4 July.
The garden waste permit charge is £35 - the same cost as last year when around 24,000 householders registered to use the scheme. Collections will run fortnightly between 1 September 2025 and 28 August 2026.
Permit stickers will be delivered in August to every registered household showing the address and permit number for the property. Council collection crews will only empty brown bins with a valid sticker clearly displayed and they will check the sticker details match the address. There is a strict limit of one brown bin per household.
Residents will also receive a calendar with the permit pack displaying the day and week of their bin collection.
Register before the 4 July deadline
For residents who don’t have a brown bin at their property, they can register for a permit then contact wasteservices@eastlothian.gov.uk to order a bin and the council will arrange its delivery.
Garden waste including grass cuttings, leaves, bark, flowers, plants, hedge trimmings, weeds, twigs and small branches are all accepted in brown bins.
Councillor John McMillan, East Lothian Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment, Economic Development and Tourism, said: “I’m pleased that so many households have already signed up, and I would encourage everyone who wishes to benefit from this service to register before the 4 July deadline."