As calendars prepare to turn to January, holiday decorations begin to come down from Christmas trees that have served their purpose. Delawareans looking to recycle those trees have plenty of options to choose from.
More than ten sites throughout the state are offering the service at no cost, with many other locations charging a small fee.
DNREC coordinates and promotes the effort. Engineer Debra Nielson says you won’t necessarily need a vehicle to haul your tree to recycle it.
“We remind people that many of the haulers have a one-time collection for Christmas trees and some of the haulers and landscapers will pick them up in addition to the drop-off facilities,” said Nielson.
Kent County will collect Christmas trees from January 6th through 17th for customers using the yard waste collection service on their normal trash day.
State parks used to be the primary drop off location until three years ago, but Nielson says the agency faced budget problems and saw an opportunity to move tree recycling over to the private sector.
“About three years ago, the budget was very tight and [the parks department], their primary objective is managing 25,000 acres of park and recreation land and this Christmas tree recycling was kind of a little extra thing they did,” Nielson said.
Old Christmas trees will eventually be turned into mulch or compost, depending on the recycling location.
Christmas trees, stripped of all decorations and detached from tree stands, can be dropped off by Delaware residents for free at any of the following locations:
New Castle County
Polly Drummond Hill Community Yard Waste Demonstration Site
Located in the Pike Creek area on Polly Drummond Hill Road, about 1/2 mile north of Kirkwood Highway.
Hours: Daily 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. unless otherwise posted.
South Chapel Yard Waste Site (new site, operated by Holland Mulch)
NOTE: Accepting yard waste at approximately 10 Brookhill Drive until work on entrance off of Route 72 is complete.
1034 S. Chapel Street, Newark, DE 19702 (main Holland Mulch office phone 302-765-3100)
Hours: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Saturday, 7:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.*
Closed January 1 and 2
Copeland’s Mulch Depot (free if the tree was purchased at Copeland’s; otherwise $2)
2 Honeysuckle Drive, Stanton, DE 19804; (phone 302-633-9536)
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.*
Closed December 26 through January 3
Holland Mulch
135 Hay Road, Edge Moor, DE 19809 (phone 302-765-3100)
Hours: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.; Saturday, 7:30 a.m. – noon*
Closed January 1and 2
Wilmington Organic Recycling Center
612 Christiana Avenue, Wilmington, DE 19801 (phone 302-266-7678)
Hours: Monday-Friday, 6 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Saturday, 6 a.m. – noon*
Closed January 1
Sussex County
Blessings Greenhouse
9372 Draper Road, Milford, DE 19963 (phone 302-393-3273)
Hours: Monday-Saturday, 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.*, Closed January 1
Blue Hen Organics
33529 Fox Run Road, Frankford, DE 19945 (phone 302-732-3211)
Hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.*, Closed January 1
Grizzly’s Landscape Supply Service
18412 The Narrow Road, Lewes, DE 19958 (phone 302-644-0654)
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.*, Closed January 1
Kaye Construction
22288 Coverdale Road, Seaford, DE 19973 (phone 302-629-7483)
Hours: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.*, Closed December 26 through January 1
Selbyville Pet and Garden Center (free for active customers within the last 6 months)
38205 DuPont Boulevard, Selbyville, DE 19975 (phone 302-436-8286)
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.*, Closed January 1
Stockley Materials
25136 DuPont Boulevard, Georgetown, DE 19947 (phone 302-856-7601)
Hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.*, Closed January 1
*Please note that private businesses accepting trees may alter their hours of operation during the holidays.
Facilities that charge a fee for dropping off other yard waste will continue to charge regular rates for recycling other yard waste during this time – only Christmas trees will be recycled for free.
Other locations throughout the state also accept Christmas trees for recycling for a fee. See DNREC's website for information on all yard waste drop-off sites in Delaware.