Sign-up window is open for garden waste collection permits

The registration window for the garden waste collection service opened on Monday, 11 May.

Permit applications can be made using a myeastlothian account on our website until the sign-up window closes at 4pm on Monday, 6 July.

The garden waste permit charge will increase to £40 this year after remaining at £35 since their introduction in 2024.

Around 24,000 householders registered to use the scheme last year.

Permit holders will benefit from fortnightly collections between 31 August 2026 and 27 August 2027.

Permit stickers will be delivered in August to every household which signs up showing the address and permit number for the registered property. 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.

Email reminders were sent out to anyone who signed up online to last year’s service through a myeastlothian account.

I need a brown bin

If you do not have a brown bin at your property, register for a permit first then contact wasteservices@eastlothian.gov.uk to order a bin and we will arrange to have one delivered to your address.

Can I opt out?

Households do not have to use this service, and residents can dispose of garden waste free of charge at our recycling centres.

Garden waste including grass cuttings, leaves, bark, flowers, plants, hedge trimmings, weeds, twigs/small branches are all accepted materials in brown bins.

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.