East Lothian: a two-hour window
East Lothian operates an online booking system for vans and vehicles towing a trailer, and the booking window is **between 10am and midday**. That is a two-hour slot in the middle of a working day, which is the constraint that matters most here.
A **fair-use policy of twelve visits a year** applies to van and trailer visits. Same figure as North Lanarkshire, and the same problem — twelve does not cover a real clearance project.
Book through the council's recycling centre booking pages.
- Online booking for vans and trailers
- Appointments 10am to midday
- Fair-use policy: 12 visits a year
- Cars generally simpler
- East Lothian residents only
- Book before you load
Midlothian: booking required
Midlothian also requires a booking for vans or trailers at its household waste recycling centres. A slot has to be booked before travelling.
As always in Scotland, a permit or booking from one council is worthless in the next. An East Lothian booking does not get you into a Midlothian site, and neither gets you into Edinburgh's — which runs its own system again, covered in our Edinburgh recycling centres guide.
That matters more in the Lothians than most places, because the three areas run into each other and the nearest site to a Musselburgh or Dalkeith address may well be across a boundary.
Can't take a weekday morning off?
We collect seven days with no two-hour window and no visit limit.
What the sites take
The standard household range: garden waste, timber, metal, rubble and hardcore, card and paper, plastics, glass, textiles, and electricals under WEEE (anything with a plug or a battery) including fridges and freezers, degassed rather than crushed.
Refused: asbestos, gas cylinders, bulk chemicals and solvents, clinical waste and tyres in quantity. Our hazardous and special waste page covers who takes each.
Trade waste is not accepted at either council's sites.
When to have it collected
For a car load with a slot booked, use the tip. It is free and it is the sensible choice.
The 10am-to-midday window is the sticking point for most working people. If you cannot take a weekday morning off, and you have more than a car will hold, the tip is effectively unavailable to you — and that, rather than price, is why most of our Lothians work comes in.
We cover Musselburgh, Dalkeith, Haddington, Tranent, Prestonpans, Penicuik, Bonnyrigg and North Berwick, seven days, no window, no visit limit. Loads start at £100 + VAT with a transfer note every time.
See rubbish removal in Dalkeith, house clearance or garden clearance.
