As the Christmas holiday comes to a close, there are many ways to recycle real Christmas trees.
Christmas trees are considered yard waste and shouldn’t go to landfills or recycle bins. Most trash providers offer curbside pickup with your trash, free or for a fee depending on the service area.
The City of Newark collects trees from December 26 through January 26. Other municipalities host drop-off days.
In Wilmington, DNREC is partnering with the Delaware Center for Horticulture for TreeCycle, a free, family-friendly tree recycling event in the DCH parking lot on January 6 from 9 am to 4 pm.
DNREC Recycling Program manager Adam Schlachter says the Davey Tree Expert Company will be onsite to grind up the trees into wood chips.
“DelDOT uses a ton of mulch all the time," Schlachter says. "Any of the local municipalities use it for when they’re doing their own road projects. A lot of times they’ll use it in parks because they will use it to keep down weed control.”
Schlachter notes people can find a tree drop-off location at de.gov/yardwaste, adding state parks no longer accept trees. He also emphasizes trees must be completely free of any tinsel, ornaments, garland, or other decorations.
“So no Christmas tree stands, no lights, the fake snow has to be taken off, all the ornaments and all of that," he says. "And no fake trees, we’ve had a couple of people try to bring fake trees to yard waste sites and I’m like ‘not yard waste.’ That one actually can go in the landfill.”
And Schlachter says DNREC discourages burning any yard waste as well.
