An extra sign-up window for East Lothian Council’s 2025/26 garden waste collection service will open on Monday, 2 February and run for two weeks.
Permit applications will be available using a myeastlothian account on the council’s website until the window closes at 4pm on Monday, 16 February.
This opportunity has been created to allow residents who didn’t sign up during last year’s window - which operated from 12 May until 4 July - to join the current service.
Anyone signing up will benefit from fortnightly collections operating until 28 August 2026 at a cost of £35 for a permit.
They will have to sign up again for the 2026/27 service when the standard window opens in May for all residents, including paying for a new permit.
Permit stickers will be delivered to households signing up during the February window showing the address and permit number for the registered 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.
Second opportunity
Councillor John McMillan, East Lothian Cabinet Spokesperson for Environment, Economic Development and Tourism, said: “We are pleased to be able to offer a second opportunity for people to sign up for garden waste collections running until August this year, including those who may have moved home recently.
“Garden waste including grass cuttings, leaves, bark, flowers, plants, hedge trimmings, weeds, twigs/small branches are all accepted materials in brown bins.”
Residents who do not have a brown bin at their property can register for a permit first then contact wasteservices@eastlothian.gov.uk to order one. The council will arrange to have a bin delivered to their address.
For flats with shared areas, it is the residents’ responsibility to organise registration and payment for the service. This may be done by splitting the cost but only one person should order the permit and pay the full amount.