East Lothian residents are being given a second chance to sign up to the council’s profitable garden waste scheme.
Annual fees for garden waste collections in the county bring in just under £1million for the local authority with bin owners given the chance to sign up for permits between May and July each year.
Now the council has said it will open a second window for people to apply for the annual permit for a couple of weeks next month, however, they will still have to pay the full annual fee of £40 despite only receiving the service from January to August.
Announcing the second chance the council said it would allow residents who missed out during the original sign up period to access the current service as well as those who may have moved into the area after July.
A council spokesperson said: “We are pleased to be able to offer a second
opportunity for people to sign up for garden waste collections running until August next year, including those who may have moved home recently.”
They added: “The charge contributes towards the cost of providing this optional service to residents wishing to receive a garden waste collection.
“This is an additional sign-up opportunity.
“Introducing a pro-rota charge would be challenging due to the additional administration required. Residents signing up during this window will receive the service during the main growing season, when demand is at its highest.”
Properties are restricted to one brown garden waste bin each although flats are able to share a bin as long as a single resident pays the annual fee in full.
The council introduced charges to collect garden waste three years ago across the county for the first time and a recent report revealed uptake in the first year was double what was originally expected and has remained high with nearly half of all households paying to have the brown bins emptied every two weeks.
It was reported last week that East Lothian Council has one of the cleanest recycling records in the UK with less than 4 per cent of material contaminated. the report says that the high level of clean material brings in around £250,000 in revenue to the council each year while fees for garden waste collection bring in around £900,000..
The local authority has one of the highest number of waste receptacles in the country with a two bins for household waste and garden waste, separate boxes for recycling glass and cardboard , a white bag for plastic and cans and a food caddy.
The new garden waste permit sign up window opens on Monday, November 2 and run for two weeks. Permit applications can be made using a myeastlothian account on the council’s website until the window closes at 4pm on Monday, November 16.
By Marie Sharp Local Democracy Reporter
