Bah humbug…the holiday is over but please don’t just throw your Christmas tree –   Recycle and create valuable organic materials that can be recycled and chipped into mulch. Please remove all non-organic objects such as lights, wire, tinsel, ornaments and hooks.  Foreign objects contaminate the mulch and damage the chipper. Get the Recycle locations throughout New Castle County here.

Christmas tree recycling – a Delaware post-holiday tradition – carries on statewide for 2013-‘14
Take your tree to a yard waste site or contact your waste collector 

DNREC Public Affairs  DOVER  (Dec. 26, 2013) – Delawareans are encouraged to give their recycling spirit a boost after the holiday season by delivering their Christmas trees to one of many yard waste recycling facilities located throughout the state. Many of the facilities will accept the trees for FREE; you will find their recycling services as well as DNREC-sponsored drop-off sites listed below. Please note that Christmas trees are no longer accepted for recycling at any Delaware State Park locations.

Christmas trees will be accepted for recycling from December 26 to Jan. 25, 2014 from families at the facilities listed below. Trees will not be accepted from commercial haulers or tree vendors without prior approval. Artificial decorations, including hooks, wire, tinsel and ornaments, as well as wood and metal tree stands, must be removed from all trees before dropping them off for recycling.

“Many Delawareans have been recycling their Christmas trees for many years, and we encourage everyone to establish or continue this eco-friendly tradition,” said Bill Miller, program manager in DNREC’s Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Section. “Recycling these trees that are a product of nature is a wonderful way of giving back to the environment.”

Christmas tree recycling saves valuable landfill space. At least 18 percent of residential waste is composed of grass, leaves, brush, trees and other lawn maintenance and landscaped materials. Prior to Delaware’s yard waste ban, these materials – considered a resource for composting and reuse rather than waste – were deposited in landfills, taking up valuable space and limiting local markets for mulch and compost products.

Many companies such as waste haulers and landscapers also collect Christmas trees. Your regular trash hauler may offer one-time collection for Christmas trees in January. Kent County will collect Christmas trees from January 6-17 (on your regular trash day) for customers in trash districts that have the yard waste collection service. For a partial listing of entities that collect Christmas trees and other yard waste go to: www.dnrec.delaware.gov/yardwaste and click on “Yard waste collection options.” 

WHERE TO RECYCLE

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 and 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 1 and 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

Other locations throughout the state also accept Christmas trees for recycling for a fee. For information on all yard waste drop-off sites in Delaware, go to:  www.dnrec.delaware.gov/yardwaste and click “Yard waste drop-off options.”

For more information about yard waste, visit DNREC’s website, www.dnrec.delaware.gov/yardwasteor call 302-739-9403 ext.1.