Christmas tree recycling – a Delaware post-holiday tradition – carries on statewide for 2019/2020

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

DOVER – The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control encourages Delawareans to recycle your Christmas tree at one of many yard waste recycling facilities located throughout the state, or to place your tree curbside for recycling. Whatever route you and your Christmas tree may take toward recycling, it’s always a good post-holiday destination that benefits the state environmentally.

“Recycling Christmas trees has been an environmentally-friendly tradition in the state for many years, and we hope that more Delawareans will continue that tradition this holiday season,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin. “We also welcome residents who might be newcomers to recycling their Christmas trees – and thank them for helping to make our environment better.”

A list of yard waste sites accepting Christmas trees for recycling can be found on the DNREC website. Trees may be dropped off as soon as the day after Christmas, but each facility has a different schedule for accepting them, so you are advised to call ahead. Also, before loading your Christmas tree in your vehicle and traveling to a drop-off site, check with your regular trash hauler to see if they are collecting trees and what their schedule and requirements are. DNREC also reminds Delawareans Christmas trees are no longer accepted for recycling at any Delaware State Parks locations. Whether dropping off your Christmas tree or having it collected, the tree should always be stripped of all decorations and lights, have any flocking (fake snow) removed, and be detached from a tree stand.

For more information on Christmas tree recycling, visit www.de.gov/yardwaste, and click on “yard waste drop-off sites,” or call DNREC’s Recycling Program at 302-739-9403.

Media contact: Michael Globetti or Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

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Christmas tree recycling – a Delaware post-holiday tradition – carries on statewide for 2015/16

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.


Find a locally-grown Christmas tree from a Delaware farmer

DOVER — More than 30 Delaware farmers have Christmas trees available for First State merrymakers this holiday season, with firs, spruces and pines in abundance – and easy to find and buy with the Delaware Fresh mobile app. The app and a related website, de.gov/christmastrees, feature locations, hours and other shopping information.

“It’s great family fun to pick out just the right locally-grown tree for your house,” said Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Ed Kee. “Buying from a Delaware farm is a guarantee to get the freshest tree and support our local tree farmers at the same time.”

Growing Christmas trees is a specialized business in Delaware, with growers selecting particular varieties for attractiveness or other features. It typically takes seven to 10 years to grow a thriving 7-foot-tall First State Christmas tree. This is the busiest time of year for Delaware’s Christmas tree farmers, Kee said, but they work year-round to care for their trees.

The Delaware Fresh app is available free for download on Android, iPhone and Windows 8 phone platforms at https://delaware.gov/apps/.

To pick the right tree, examine it carefully, looking out for these details:

>> The shape and size of a tree will depend on where you plan to place it and the height of the ceiling in your home. Some people want a more slender tree like a fir, while others like a larger, fuller tree like a spruce, and still others prefer a fuller, bushier tree like a pine.

>> Although most people prefer a well-rounded and shapely tree, you may find it more practical and economical to buy one that is somewhat flat or sparsely branched in one side, so that it fits into a corner or against a wall.

>> While “choose-and-cut” purchasers gain in popularity, families that buy their trees from retail lots can also check for freshness. They can test cut trees by bending needles to check resilience (if it springs back into position, the tree is fresh); bumping the base of the tree on the ground (if the needles don’t fall, the tree is fresh); and feeling the bottom of the trunk (if sappy and moist, the tree is fresh).

When the tree is home, families still need to care for it to make it stay fresh throughout the season:

>> Keep a cut tree in a cool, shaded area, sheltered from wind, with the trunk in a bucket of water until you are ready for set up.

>> Just before putting a cut tree into its stand, cut an inch or two off the butt end. This fresh cut will allow the tree to more readily take up water once it is moved inside.

>> Fresh trees take up water at a very fast rate. You should check the water level two hours after setting up the tree. Then, check the water level at least once daily to see that it is above the bottom of the tree’s trunk. It is not uncommon for trees to take up a quart or more of water daily.

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Contact:
Dan Shortridge
Chief of Community Relations
Delaware Department of Agriculture
302-698-4520