Christmas tree recycling begins Jan. 7 in Philadelphia

The city of Philadelphia is offering Christmas tree recycling again, but workers will not pick up the tree for recylcing at the curb. 

If you want Philadelphia to recycle your tree, you’ll have to take it to a Streets Department Sanitation Convenience Center at 63rd Street, Domino Lane or State Road from Jan. 7 through Jan. 19. Phil Bresee, the city’s recycling director, says putting a tree at the curb means it will end up in a landfill.

“If residents put their trees at the curb, (the trees) are going to be picked up with regular trash,” he said. “It goes into a landfill and it rots very slowly. Landfills are really big tombs and things really don’t decay in landfills, which is why we should avoid putting stuff in them.”

The trees are “recycled” by shredding them into mulch. Some neighborhood groups also are sponsoring tree collections, including ones that start earlier.

Bresee says Jan. 7 is the soonest that Philadelphia can collect Christmas trees because holiday recycling collections are so large. Trucks and crews will be busy getting rid of the cans, bottles and paper residents put in blue bins after Christmas and New Year’s.