More than 18,000 households have so far signed up to Mansfield District Council’s garden waste service this year.

Most people – 15,437 – have opted to pay online by card, either as a one-off payment or by a yearly direct debit. A total of 2,629 have opted to pay by PayPoint at their local post office.

The council changed the brown bin service this year to make it more cashless, digital and streamlined as part of the authority’s wider efforts to improve efficiency by increasing the use of technology.

Customers are now encouraged to sign up and pay for the £30-a-year service via the customer portal on the council’s website and mark their house number clearly on their brown bin.

Instead of sending out stickers to show who has paid, the Waste and Recycling crews now have in-cab technology which matches up a customer’s record of payment with their street and house number. All customers have to do is mark their bin with their house number.

Mariam Amos, Strategic Director at the council, said: “As with any new system, there have been a few glitches and we would like to thank everyone for their patience while we bed in this new way of working.

“Registering online and setting up a direct debit is by far the easiest way to access the service and maintain continuity of service from year to year and ensures customers get maximum value for money.

“We are trying to respond to customers as quickly as possible amid high demand. Requests for additional or new bins should be completed within ten days of the council receiving payment.”

Customers who do not have access to the internet should call the council on 01623 463643 for further advice.

Fortnightly garden waste collections run from March to November with monthly collections from December to February. Customers can check which days and which bins are emptied online at www.mansfield.gov.uk/bindays

Bins should be put out by 6.30am on the day of collection (6am on bank holidays) and removed from the pavement no later than 12 noon the next day. Enforcement action may be taken by the council if bins are not removed.

Those with more garden waste to dispose of can purchase up to three additional bins for £15 each per year. The council can provide 240-litre or smaller 120-litre garden waste bins.

Garden waste bin collections from all over Nottinghamshire are taken to the Veolia Oxton Composting Site where it is shredded and composted for use on farms and horticultural outlets.

Use your brown bin to recycle:

• grass cuttings

• hedge trimmings

• leaves

• small branches and twigs

• plants

• weeds

• cut flowers.

Do not put the following in your brown bin:

• food and kitchen waste

• garden furniture

• treated wood

• soil, bricks or rocks

• large logs

• building waste.

For more details or any questions get in touch via the council’s Facebook and Twitter accounts or visit www.mansfield.gov.uk