Christmas tree recycling begins Wednesday with trash pick-up

San Francisco residents who put Christmas trees into their homes this year will be able to get rid of their trees starting next week.

Recology will begin picking up Christmas trees beginning on Jan. 2 through Jan. 11. Residents just need to leave their tree outside near their recycling bin on their normal trash pick-up day, and Recology will take away the tree with a separate truck.

Before residents put out their trees, they need to remove decorations, lights, tinsel, and stand from the Christmas tree.

Residents will need to cut trees in half that are taller than 6 feet.

Recology’s Blossom Valley Organics North facility will use a wood chipper to turn the Christmas trees into mulch which can help rejuvenate the soil, preventing pesticide and improving the water capacity for other trees, said Debbie Raphael, director of the Department of Environment:

“What the message of today is, there is always a right place for everything here in San Francisco at the end of its life and that goes for Christmas trees as well.”

Last year, The City recycled more than 500 tons of Christmas trees in January — the equivalent weight of two Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes.

In front of City Hall Thursday morning, city officials threw Christmas trees into a chipper as they have done so in the last several years to encourage residents to allow Recology to recycle their trees instead of dumping the trees elsewhere.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.