31 Dec City of Austin offers options for Christmas tree recycling

This year marks 30 years of recycling Christmas trees in the City of Austin. Annually, Christmas tree recycling keeps nearly 20,000 trees out of the landfill, which helps the City reach its Zero Waste goal.

For City of Austin curbside customers, recycling Christmas trees is simple: just set it at the curb starting December 26. Austin Resource Recovery will pick up all trees, along with yard trimmings, on regularly scheduled collection days. The collected trees and yard trimmings are then composted into Dillo Dirt™. 

Residents should use the following guidelines when recycling their tree:

• All trees six feet or taller should be cut in half (only for curbside collection)
• Remove all ornaments, decorations, lights and the tree stand
• Do not place tree in a “tree bag” before setting at the curb
• Only real Christmas trees may be recycled

All residents, including those without City of Austin curbside service, can drop off trees at the Zilker Park Polo Fields between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the following days:

• Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014
• Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014
• Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014
• Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014

Mulch from trees collected at Zilker Park will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to Austin residents on Thursday, Jan. 24.