Christmas Tree Recycling

Find out more about Christmas tree recycling

During the festive period, the amount of waste we throw away in the UK jumps by over 10% thanks to all the extra packaging, wrapping paper, Christmas card, and food and drink consumed. Although many people now recycle their cans, bottles, and paper etc with regulatar collections by local authorities, one of the largest purchases at Christmas - the Christmas tree - is often forgotten but can also be recycled.

Last year (2007) over six million real Christmas trees were sold in the UK, or which only 10% were recycled. Therefore the vast majority of the remaining 5.5 million trees ended up being thrown out and dumped in landfill - an expensive and environmentally damaging waste of thousands of tonnes of reusable biomass (1).

Now across the UK many local councils will collect Christmas trees free of charge if left next to a refuse bin on the normal collection day in the weeks following Christmas. Dedicated christmas tree recycling drop off points are also provided in many areas supplementing the work of local year-round recycling sites.

Christmas Tree Recycling

Christmas trees are recycled by being passed through a chipper and turned into mulch or soil improver

Christmas trees are recycled simply by passing them through a chipper. The small pieces can then be used as mulch or composted down and used as a soil improver for adding nutrients to poor soils. Before taking your Christmas tree to be recycled, ensure that you have removed all lights, tinsel, bulbs, and decorations.

If you cannot get your Christmas tree to a recycling centre and you have a garden, then there are many ways the tree can be recycled or put to good use:
Create a wildlife habitat - cut the branches off the tree with a small saw or hatchet. Pile them up in a corner of your garden or yard and it will create an instant wildlife habitat acting as a shelter for birds and beneficial insects.
Make mulch - the evergreen branches of a christmas tree act as an excellent top layer mulch when placed around the roots of young trees and bushes helping them to retain water and also offering frost protection.
Make an ornamental garden - the trunk of the christmas tree can be cut into pieces and used as ornamental features in the garden or burned in a wood burning stove or a fireplace for carbon neutral (2) heating.

Web Link References

(1) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Introduction-to-Biomass.htm
(2) http://www.reuk.co.uk/Carbon-Neutral.htm