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

DOVER – DNREC encourages Delawareans to give their recycling spirit a boost after the holiday season by taking their Christmas trees to one of many yard waste recycling facilities located throughout the state. Christmas trees will be accepted free of charge for recycling from Delaware residents at a number of facilities listed below; other drop-off sites may charge a fee as noted. The Department also reminds residents that Christmas trees are no longer accepted for recycling at any of DNREC’s Delaware State Parks.

“Recycling Christmas trees has been an environmentally-friendly tradition for many years, and we hope that Delawareans will continue that tradition this holiday season,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin.

Residents can bring in their trees as early as today’s date and as late as Jan. 28, 2019, but should contact a facility beforehand 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, flocking (fake snow), and ornaments, as well as wood and metal tree stands, must be removed from all trees before dropping them off for recycling.

Only Christmas trees will be accepted for free from Delaware residents. Facilities may charge a fee for other yard waste. Other locations throughout the state, including some businesses, waste haulers, and landscapers, also accept Christmas trees for recycling for a fee. Also, your regular trash hauler may offer special collection dates for Christmas trees in January, and municipal or regional collection or drop-off events may be held in your area.

Christmas tree recycling saves valuable landfill space in Delaware. More than 180,000 tons of yard waste, including grass, leaves, brush, trees, and other lawn maintenance and landscaped materials, was recycled throughout the state in 2017. Prior to Delaware’s yard waste ban, many of 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.

Christmas trees may be dropped off by Delaware residents at the following locations:

New Castle County

Copeland’s Mulch Depot (Free for trees purchased at Copeland’s; otherwise $5)
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. 2

Polly Drummond Hill Road Community Yard Waste Demonstration Site (FREE)
Located in the Pike Creek area on Polly Drummond Hill Road, about 1/2 mile north of Kirkwood Highway.
Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., through Jan. 13. The site will close starting Jan. 14; for more information, visit www.de.gov/yardwaste.

Kent County

Kent County will collect Christmas trees on residents’ regular trash days from Jan. 7-11 and 14-18 for customers in trash districts with yard waste collection service.

Sussex County

Grizzly’s Landscape Supply Service ($10/tree)
14680 Coastal Highway, Milton, DE 19968, phone 302-644-0654
Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.*

Mr. Mulch (Free Christmas Tree Recycling)
22288 Coverdale Road, Seaford, DE 19973, phone 302-629-5737
Hours: Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-4 p.m.*

Millville Organic Center (Free Christmas Tree Recycling)
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.*
NOTE: Closed Dec. 24-Jan. 2, reopens Jan. 3.

Selbyville Mulch, Stone, & Soil (free for active customers within the last 6 months)
38205 DuPont Boulevard, Selbyville, DE 19975, phone 302-436-8286
Hours: Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-4 p.m.*

Stockley Materials (Free Christmas Tree Recycling)
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.

Delawareans are also reminded that Jan. 13, 2019 is the last day to drop materials off at DNREC’s Polly Drummond Hill Road yard waste site, which will close for maintenance Jan. 14.

For more information about yard waste, including drop-off sites, visit DNREC’s website, www.de.gov/yardwaste, or call 302-739-9403, ext.1.

Contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 48, No. 341

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