Take your tree to a yard waste site or contact your waste collector

DOVER – 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. Please note that Christmas trees are no longer accepted for recycling at any Delaware State Park locations.

Christmas trees will be accepted free of charge for recycling from residents at the facilities listed below. Residents may be able to bring their trees as soon as Dec. 26 and as late as Jan. 30, 2016, but should contact the facility for specific hours and details. 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 bans, 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 entities collect Christmas trees, including various waste haulers and landscapers. Your regular trash hauler may offer special collections for Christmas trees in January.

Kent County will collect Christmas trees from Jan. 11-15 and 18-22 on your regular trash day for customers in trash districts that have the yard waste collection service.

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 Road 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: ONLY Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. through Jan. 10. Site will close Jan. 11, 2016 through May 7, 2016 (More information: www.dnrec.delaware.gov/yardwaste)
• South Chapel Yard Waste Site (operated by Holland Mulch)
  1034 S. Chapel Street, Newark, DE 19702; phone 302-737-1000
  Hours: Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday 7:30 a.m.-noon*
• Copeland’s Mulch Depot (free for trees 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 until Jan. 4.
• 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*

Sussex County

• Blessings Greenhouses
  9372 Draper Road, Milford, DE 19963; phone 302-393-3273
  Hours: Monday-Saturday 7 a.m.-5 p.m.*
• Blue Hen Organics
  33529 Fox Run Road, Frankford, DE 19945; phone 302-732-3211
  Hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-4 p.m.*
• 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.*
• Kaye Construction
  22288 Coverdale Road, Seaford, DE 19973; phone 302-629-7483
  Hours: Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m.*, closed until Jan. 4
• Millville Organic Center
  Whites Neck Road (0.5 miles north of Route 26) Millville, DE 19967; phone 302-423-2601
  Hours: Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-4 p.m.*
• 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: Thursdays and Fridays 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m.-4 p.m.***
• Stockley Materials
  25136 DuPont Boulevard, Georgetown, DE 19947; phone 302-856-7601
  Hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-5 p.m.*

*Please call ahead as businesses may alter their hours of operation around the holidays.

Only Christmas trees from residents will be accepted for free. Facilities may charge a fee for other yard waste. Other locations throughout the state also accept Christmas trees for recycling for a fee. For information on other yard waste drop-off sites in Delaware, go to: www.dnrec.delaware.gov/yardwaste and click “Yard waste drop-off options.”

Delawareans are also reminded that DNREC’s Polly Drummond Hill Road yard waste site is closing Jan. 11, 2016, and will reopen on May 7, 2016 for Saturdays only. For more information, click: DNREC’s Polly Drummond Hill Road yard waste site to close Jan. 11, 2016; will reopen next May Saturdays only.

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

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