Christmas tree recycling

Scroll down this page for local Indiana recycling and responsible disposal options for holiday waste, from Christmas trees and wreathes, to lights, ornaments, wrapping and packaging. Many towns and cities offer curbside collection, even for Christmas trees. Counties and unicorporated areas typically have a number or drop-off locations.

Christmas trees are usually colllected from December 26th through the first 2 or 3 weeks in January.  Whether your tree is picked up from your curb,Grinding Christmas trees into mulch or you drop it off, be sure to remove all  remove all lights, wire, tinsel, ornaments, nails, stands,  other NON-Organic decorative materials and other materials that are not part of the original tree. This includes tree stands also.  Flocked trees are occasionally accepted (call to verify), but not artificial trees. Large trees (larger than the standard 6 - 7 ft tree) may need to be cut in half to be acceptable by your curbside garbage hauler.

The trees and wreathes are usually chipped and made into a mulch which is often made available, free to city or county residents.

Recycling other items:

Always follow the links (usually the blue, underlined name of the city or county) below for updated information, as these agencies often wait until the last minute to change dates or update their information. If your area is not specifically mentioned below, call your trash collection agency and ask!

Indiana: Where and How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree After the Holidays January 2024

  • Indianapolis, Marion County - the City is making it easier than ever to dispose of live Christmas trees after the holiday season. January 1 - January 31, trash crews will pick up live Christmas trees curbside as part of regular trash pick up at no additional charge to residents. To be collected, residents must follow the following guidelines: Remove all lights and ornaments from trees. Cut and bundle trees in 3-foot to 4-foot sections. Place the tree at the curb on your regular trash collection day in January. Residents may still drop their trees at Indy Parks locations as they have done in years past at any of the following parks locations:
    • Broad Ripple Park, 1610 Broad Ripple Ave., South lot
    • Ellenberger Park, 5301 E. St. Clair Street, Main parking lot
    • Garfield Park, 2432 Conservatory Drive, MacAllister Center
    • Krannert Park, 605 S. High School Road, North parking lot
    • Perry Park, 451 Stop 11 Road, Southwest side of parking lot near pool
    • Riverside Park, 2420 N. Riverside Drive, Tennis court parking lot
    • Sahm Park, 6801 E. 91st Street, Soccer field parking lot
    • Northwestway Park, 5253 W. 62nd Street, Near the recycling bins

    Christmas tree collection in January will not affect residents' regular trash limitations, it does not count against your weekly trash limit. Those in hand collection areas may leave up to 10 kitchen-size bags of trash in addition to one Christmas tree. Those in cart collection areas may leave up to two carts of trash in addition to one Christmas tree.
    If you cannot cut and bundle my tree for collection on my regular trash day, you may leave your tree at the curb on your monthly heavy trash collection day. Trees left for pick-up on heavy trash days do not need to be cut and bundled. Each tree will count as one heavy trash item.
    After January, residents may place their trees at the curb on heavy trash days for collection. Each tree will count as one heavy trash item.
  • Allen County, Fort Wayne area - Drop off your Christmas tree at the locations below. Christmas trees will not be picked up. Wreathes are not accepted. See the list at right or call 449-7878.
    It is free from December 26th to mid-January. After that, trees are still accepted at the Bio-Solids, Lime and Yard Waste Facility, though fees will apply.
    Locations:
    Fort Wayne Bio-Solids Handling Facility to 6202 Lake Avenue, Fort Wayne, Monday to Friday, 7:00AM to 3:00PM (Closed New Year's Day)
    North Highway Department Building to 2234 Carroll Road, Fort Wayne, Open daily from dawn to dusk.
    Metea County Park to 8401 Union Chapel Road, Open 9:00AM to 6:00PM daily
    Little River Wetlands Project to 5000 Smith Road, Monday to Saturday, 8:00AM to 4:00PM (Closed 12/26 and New Year's Day)
    New Haven Utility Shop to 2201 Summit Street, New Haven, Open daily from dawn to dusk.
    Monroeville Water Works Department to 200 Utility Drive, Monroeville, Open daily from dawn to dusk.
    For more information, see www.acwastewatcher.org or call ACDEM at (260) 449-7878.
  • Bloomington, IN - Christmas tree collection will occur during the month of January. Your trees/wreaths must be free of wires, decorations, lights, stands etc. No artificial trees or wreaths. This is at no charge. They will pick up only on your yard waste day. You can check your day on our website at Bloomington.in.gov/mybloomington . If you have questions please call 812-349-3443. Please have your trees placed on the curb, clear of all ornaments and decorations (and not placed in a bag), by 5:00 AM on your assigned yard waste day. Yard waste collection program is suspended between January 1 and April 1.
  • Carmel, IN - Free Christmas tree pickup is available curbside on your regular trash days beginning January 1st. Please remove all decorations and do not bag your tree. Christmas tree pick up is included in the program at no additional cost. Please have Christmas trees cut in half and laid next to the trash cart.
  • Columbus, IN - December 26th to the last Friday in January; City crews will be picking up residential Christmas trees CURBSIDE (NO ALLEY'S) the same day as your regular trash collection. Call-ins will not be accepted for Christmas trees and collections will not be made pm private streets. All trees (not in bags) must be free of ornaments, hooks stands, or nails and placed at the curbside.. City crews will be picking up residential Christmas trees CURBSIDE (no alleys) the day following their regular trash collection. Friday's trees will be collected on the following Monday. There will be no special pick-ups made for Christmas trees and collections will not be made on private streets. All trees (not in bags) must be free of ornaments, hooks, stands, or nails and placed at the curbside. Click here for locations, updated information and more details.
  • Goshen, Indiana - Christmas Tree Disposal - Goshen Street Department workers will pick up discarded Christmas trees from early January through the last Friday in the month. After removing the tree stand and all lights and decorations, City residents may place their tree by the street curb. No artificial trees will be collected, and no collections will be made from City alleys. Please note that snow events will take precedence over the collection of discarded trees. Residents wishing to personally dispose of their tree - and all remaining trees after January 23 - may take it/them to the Environmental Center at North Indiana Avenue and County Road 19 (the first left turn north of Wilden Avenue) Monday through Friday between 8 am and 4 pm The trash-collection service will not take your discarded tree. If you have questions, contact the Street Department at 534-9711 or [email protected].
  • Greenwood, IN - curbside Christmas tree pickup is offered through January. Trees must be undecorated and not bagged. Trees will be picked up and then transported to the city recycling area on Fry road where they will be turned to mulch. Mulch is generally available for free to Greenwood residents but no information is available at this time.
  • Johnson County, Indiana - Christmas Tree Recycling, The Johnson County Recycling District will be offering Christmas tree recycling again this year! The locations listed below will be open from December 26th to ABOUT January 9th (their website is down, so I cannot confirm the end date). This program is for Johnson County residents only. Businesses are NOT permitted to use these locations to dispose of trees. ALL TINSEL, LIGHTS, ORNAMENTS, NETTING, AND TAGS MUST BE REMOVED. 4 CONVENIENT LOCATIONS IN JOHNSON COUNTY:
    Take your tree to:
    Johnson County Shrine Club: 751 W. King Street, Franklin (behind Ken's Auto Electric)
    Center Grove High School: 2717 S. Morgantown Road, Greenwood (near the tennis courts and baseball field)
    Indian Creek Intermediate School: 1000 S. Indian Creek Drive, Trafalgar (southwest corner near the football field)
    McCarty Mulch: 100 Bluffdale Road (off State Road 37 in the Center Grove Area)
    Note: Trees at McCarty Mulch must be dropped off during business hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
    The Johnson County Recycling District has the resources to help you recycle or dispose of many of your unwanted household items in an environmentally friendly way, if possible. Call us at (317) 738-2546 for recycling/disposal information. The District office will be closed December 24, 25, and 31st and January 1st. The Recycling District accepts the following items at the District office, 900 Arvin Road, Suite A, Franklin:
    Electronics such as computers, monitors, stereos, televisions (Fees apply for TV's and computer monitors) Cash or check only. Checks made payable to JCSWMD), Cell phones with cords and chargers, PDA"s or Blackberry devices, MP3 players or IPods, Printer ink cartridges, Rechargeable batteries: includes rechargeable household batteries, button batteries, power tool batteries, Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), Lithium Ion (Li-ion), Nickel Zinc (Ni-Zn) or Lead (pb) under 2 lbs. For more information on recycling rechargeable batteries, visit the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation, www.rbrc.org . We are not able to accept alkaline batteries at this time. Unfortunately we can not accept alkaline batteries at this time. Place them in with your regular trash.

  • South Bend, Indiana - Drop off your tree or have the City of South Bend pick it up. All trees are recycled at Organic Resources into high quality mulch, which is provided at no cost to South Bend residents. The Street Department offers two options for the disposal of natural Christmas trees. The City of South Bend will offer free Christmas tree disposal for residents within city limits. The free disposal will run from Wednesday, January 2 through Thursday, January 31, with pickup taking place on the same day as trash pickup. Residents can schedule their pickup by submitting an online request at http://southbendin.gov/treepickup or by calling 311. Residents are asked to follow the guidelines for safe and efficient tree pickup:
    All trees must be placed at the curb by 6:00 am on the day of pickup. Trees should not be placed in the street or alley. Cars should not be parked on top or in front of the tree, as this could hamper crews from collecting it.
    All lights, ornaments, plastic coverings/wraps and metals, such as nails or tree stands, must be removed from the tree prior to pick up. Items left on trees can injure employees or seriously damage the tree shredding equipment, leaving it inoperable.
    Artificial trees and trees containing any metal, glass or wire will not be collected. Residents will be responsible for the proper disposal of these items.
    Free Christmas tree pickup only includes the removal of one tree per household. Additional Christmas trees can be removed and billed at a rate of (Prices may have changed!) $10 per tree. After January 31, any Christmas tree pickups scheduled will be used as the residents' free monthly yard waste extra pickup.
  • Westfield, IN - offers curbside pick up of trees through the week of January 15.

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