http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: Garden Waste Permit en Thu, 21 May 2026 04:26:47 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689&page=2#post-378902 Wed, 05 Mar 2025 17:57:39 +0000 Frenchy 378902@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>We moved earlier this year. Our sellers had renewed the brown bin permit and weren't taking it with them, so we did likewise for our old one. </p> <p>I did look into the logistics of transferring the permit, and it seemed to be straightforward (email the garden waste team at the council, take the bin with you), but obviously I didn't find out how well it works in practice. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689&page=2#post-378901 Wed, 05 Mar 2025 17:47:27 +0000 acsimpson 378901@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The permit is for the property but it's transferrable. If you don't transfer it then you will have to wait for the waste sign up window to open before you can purchase a new permit.<br /> Of course if you do transfer it then the new buyers have no collection until the window opens. </p> <p>The standard Scottish missives only require you to leave bins which are provided free of charge by the council. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689&page=2#post-378900 Wed, 05 Mar 2025 17:28:23 +0000 Morningsider 378900@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Seems odd. The permit stuck to your bin would have your old address on it. Although I suppose the bin men just look for the correct colour of sticker. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-378899 Wed, 05 Mar 2025 17:22:39 +0000 cb 378899@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>According to this (section 11)...</p> <p><a href="https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/bins-recycling/garden-waste-collection/6">https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/bins-recycling/garden-waste-collection/6</a></p> <p>...when you move house you are supposed to take your brown bin with you. Which kind of makes sense I guess.</p> <p>Has anyone moved within Edinburgh and taken their bin with them? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-310018 Thu, 04 Jul 2019 16:59:25 +0000 the canuck 310018@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>praying for mice. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309909 Tue, 02 Jul 2019 16:24:05 +0000 gembo 309909@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@the Canuck, rats like a compost bin for sure. Though maybe you saw mice or gerbils etc. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309899 Tue, 02 Jul 2019 14:12:56 +0000 steveo 309899@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>Garden heaps are cold heaps. Hot heaps are quite large. Two distinct beasts.</em></p> <p>Now you've sent me down an evening of investigating composting methods etc. Looks like composting (like everything else) has been taken to the n'th degree by the internet. </p> <p>Having said that an insulated compost bin would provide a lot of heat in a small space but odds of that heat being required when I'm in the shed are slim. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309871 Tue, 02 Jul 2019 10:55:58 +0000 the canuck 309871@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Our bins are usually collected on time, with rare occaisions where it's late evening or very early the next morning. I don't think this is the end of the world, although if it were happening regularly, it would be a sign of poor management and need re-organising.<br /> There was a case last year of work being done on a street which made it impossible for the driver on that route to get through the street--the info hadn't been shared between different departments so the route hadn't been re-worked. sheesh. weeks it took to fix.</p> <p>we have a big black thing which apparently can be used for hot-compost, and two wooden sections of what appears to be previously created compost, but is rock hard.<br /> i periodically shake the black thing, but recently small brown furry things with long tails shot out from the bottom, and i'm irrationally terrified of tipping it over and discovering a little rodent city. stuff has been percolating in there for over a year, so either i've got compost or a substance i can sell to North Korea. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309824 Mon, 01 Jul 2019 12:51:37 +0000 wingpig 309824@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"Surely the council could just offer DIY compost bins..."</p> <p>They have done a few times (sometimes free, sometimes cheap) in the past but usually only as one-off short-notice event when they had acquired a small surplus or needed to be rid of a few. Currently looking at some sort of pallet-based giant heap system for the allotment as several garden composting bins can't keep up with current weed production. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309807 Mon, 01 Jul 2019 10:20:29 +0000 I were right about that saddle 309807@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@steveo</p> <p>Garden heaps are cold heaps. Hot heaps are quite large. Two distinct beasts. </p> <p>And you just sling the compost back in the garden. The garden knows what to do with it. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309805 Mon, 01 Jul 2019 10:07:36 +0000 steveo 309805@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Always wondered if there was a way to heat the shed with a modified compost heap but ultimately I don't have a very big garden and don't produce that much garden waste and once the compost is err composted I've no real growing space to actually make use of it. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309756 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 13:22:25 +0000 Greenroofer 309756@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@Rosie - we have a wormery - it's quite effective for dealing with plant-based kitchen waste, but that's all. They are quite fussy: not liking onions, for example. A wormery is not the solution to garden composting: if we had room for a compost heap we'd have one of those instead. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309754 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 13:08:15 +0000 toomanybikes 309754@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I've started using the brown bin as my compost bin. It's not ideal as it's probably completely anaerobic at the bottom. </p> <p>It's not gonna get filled this summer (I don't think) although spent barley from brewing really adds a lot of mass. So it should just get emptied next spring as new soil. </p> <p>Surely the council could just offer DIY compost bins rather than collection bins and therefore save money on collections. This may only work for small gardens though. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309753 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 13:05:37 +0000 gembo 309753@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Before the brown bins the council offered a range of composting bins. I had a big black one but it sort of fell to bits in a high wind. I donated the bits to my neighbour who has an enormous garden, an enormous compost heap, a big bonfire once a year of the smouldering type and two brown bins. We have always had them Collected on time from the get go.</p> <p>More than half the council's budget is spent on education and children's services, Scottish Govt squeeze is the main reason for the brown bin charge, education largely protected from the squeeze so cuts have to come from elsewhere. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309751 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 12:20:15 +0000 I were right about that saddle 309751@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>There must be a ratio of compost-space to garden space that largely applies to any garden. Of course heap efficiency is greater for bigger heaps so that's where the hyper-local shared heap comes in.</p> <p>The bulkiest stuff we produce is the hedge trimmings. I am experimenting. The 300 litre black plastic composter we got off the council struggles to cope with the output of my biannual privet brutality. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309749 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 11:47:44 +0000 Rosie 309749@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@IWRATS - I would compost and I dream of having a wormery and a water-butt. But I have a tiny garden and no room to compost. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309748 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 10:57:20 +0000 I were right about that saddle 309748@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Surely the ideal is for everyone to compost everything on-site? Commit part of every garden to composting or have a hyper-local shared heap.</p> <p>Otherwise you are inevitably removing fixed nitrogen and minerals from your soil.</p> <p>I have resolved to expand my operations. I do find making good compost satisfying oh god I have turned onto my own father I have a tin can of bolts and an interest in compost. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309746 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 10:26:17 +0000 Rosie 309746@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I don't mind the £25 and my neighbour sticks in his lawn clippings into my bin after threatening to put it in the landfill. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309742 Sun, 30 Jun 2019 09:35:21 +0000 acsimpson 309742@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>"<em>Maybe they got more satisfaction from grumbling about how useless the council are than they do now from getting their brown bins emptied.</em>"</p> <p>I think that is sadly all to common. If any of our bins are more than a day or 2 late I contact the council via the website. They are usually very quick to fix the issue. Because of where we are our bins can easily be missed by new crews. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309655 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 17:40:27 +0000 ejstubbs 309655@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>When the new system started, the brown bins on my street went un-emptied for a good month. I eventually phoned the council and they were fine about it: organised for them to be emptied the next day, and made sure that our street was added to the route properly. No problems since.</p> <p>I don't particularly mind people making a mistake if, when told about it, they (a) accept the problem, (b) fix it and (c) make sure it doesn't happen again.</p> <p>It surprised me that none of my neighbours (most of whom are retired and have vastly more time then I do to make phone calls on private business during work hours) seemed to have had the gumption to make a simple phone call. Maybe they got more satisfaction from grumbling about how useless the council are than they do now from getting their brown bins emptied... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309645 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 16:17:54 +0000 acsimpson 309645@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I don't object to paying for council services as such and having a large garden now costs me £50 per year. However I don't particularly like the notion that we should be able to pick and choose which part of the council service we pay for. Is this the thin part of a wedge which will lead to more privatised services? Will we end down the line paying for the schools we use or the support we need as we get older?</p> <p>I do support congestion/road use charging though so it isn't all black and white. I think I approve of charging where it penalises bad behaviour and my underlying thought is that we need to encourage more green gardens. This charge does the opposite by rewarding people for paving over their gardens.</p> <p>@Ragingbike, have you contacted the council during the year? We were missing a label in the middle of the year and emailed the council who sent one out within a week.</p> <p>@newtoit, our experience has been very different. I don't recall a single late collection of the garden bins after the initial teething period of the new service. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309596 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 11:04:17 +0000 newtoit 309596@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I paid for it for this year. Occasionally they even come and collect it. I think once it was even on the right day! Wouldn't mind paying the £25 if the service was delivered as advertised.</p> <p>Shout out to the anonymous individual who dumped all their garden waste in our bin AFTER it had just been emptied... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309594 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 10:55:56 +0000 I were right about that saddle 309594@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Photograph your neighbour's sticker and print your own. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309593 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 10:53:15 +0000 miak 309593@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I paid my charge and never received my bin sticker ... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309591 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 10:34:03 +0000 I were right about that saddle 309591@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I've been trying to stroke the red admirals. Maybe I should tip them? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309584 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 09:24:43 +0000 stiltskin 309584@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I always reward someone who provides me with a good service. It doesn’t matter what sort of insect they are. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309583 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 09:24:34 +0000 steveo 309583@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Network rail takes my waste, never once complained. </p> <p>Only issue I have with this is the recycling center at Sighthill is always mobbed with folk getting rid of their garden waste. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309582 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 09:16:28 +0000 I were right about that saddle 309582@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I've started fly-tipping. I aim to be Edinburgh's leading fly-tipper of vegetation by 2020. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309579 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 09:01:24 +0000 crowriver 309579@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>No, it has not been agreed in principle to scrap the charges. I had the T&amp;E Committee webcast on in the background the other day, like radio. There was an opposition motion to bin the charges, but then the reply was: what do you want to cut by £2 million to pay for this? So officials are "looking into it" and options will be produced for next year's budget round. </p> <p>TL;DR version - you need to cough up your £25 p.a. until further notice. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=19689#post-309577 Fri, 28 Jun 2019 07:44:30 +0000 ejstubbs 309577@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Meanwhile: <a href="https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/crime/reports-of-fly-tipping-in-edinburgh-more-than-triple-in-last-six-years-1-4954852">Reports of fly-tipping in Edinburgh more than TRIPLE in last six years</a></p> <p>Although garden waste isn't mentioned as being a significant part of the problem. However, IIRC it was a few years ago that they started charging for 'special uplifts' - and lo and behold, furniture <u>is</u> mentioned.</p> <p>It would help if the tips weren't such a trial to use. The vehicle and people flows just don't work well. The one at Sighthill all too often turns in to a horrible logjam. The staff are usually helpful, though, and do seem to have a good sense of humour (the tip off Dalkeith Road had a spoof Fringe venue sign up on the wee gadgie's hut last summer!) </p>