If you live in Pierce County, you can recycle your Christmas tree through programs offered by Pierce County and its private sector solid waste and recycling system partners. Cities and towns within the county also offer programs.
County residents can take advantage of a free program to recycle Christmas trees. Each household may “treecycle” one unflocked tree at no charge. Multiple trees can be recycled at the regular yardwaste rate of $7 per cubic yard. The following sites are participating in this program:
— Anderson Island residential waste drop box, 9607 Steffenson Road
— Hidden Valley transfer station, 17925 Meridian East, South Hill
— Key Center residential waste drop box, 5900 Key Peninsula Highway, between Key Center and Home
— Prairie Ridge residential waste drop box, 11710 Prairie Ridge Drive, between Bonney Lake and South Prairie
— Purdy transfer station, 14515 54th Ave. NW, north of Gig Harbor
Call the Solid Waste Division’s 24-hour information line at (253) 798-4115 or visit piercecountywa.org/treecycle for hours. All of the above facilities are closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Flocked trees cannot be composted and must be disposed as garbage.
Curbside “Treecycling” is available to county yardwaste program customers. To recycle curbside, remove the stand, tinsel, decorations, garland, nails and staples and cut the tree in 4-foot or smaller lengths. Place the cut tree pieces inside yardwaste container (not on the ground next to container). Take care not to wedge the tree tightly into the container (automated truck may not properly empty compacted material from container). Portions of the tree can be recycled over several yardwaste pick-up days.
For more information about curbside yardwaste collection, contact American Disposal, 1-800-529-9892; LeMay Enterprises, (253) 537-8687; Murrey’s Disposal, (253) 414-0345; University Place Refuse, (253) 564-3212.
Whether you use the curbside or self-haul option, all trees collected in the county program are composted into a beneficial soil amendment that is popular with home and commercial gardeners. Treecycling helps save valuable landfill space, while the compost enhances soil quality, saves water and reduces reliance on chemical fertilizers
Milton, Ruston, Tacoma and Puyallup have organized collection programs for their city residents.