Scroll down this page for local Maine 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,
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!
Maine: Where and How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree After the Holidays January 2022
For OTHER recyclable items besides Christmas trees, see the following state take-back programs:
Paint:
https://www.paintcare.org/drop-off-locations/#/find-a-drop-off-site
Rechargeable Batteries: https://www.call2recycle.org/locator/
Lightbulbs & tubes:
https://www.maine.gov/dep/gis/datamaps/brwm_recycling/
Christmas Trees
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Augusta, Maine
Christmas Tree Recycling
Beginning after the Monday Christmas you can drop off your tree at
the Public Works Department on North Street, 7 AM to 4:00 pm
Monday through Friday In observance of New Year's Day, Public Works
& Hatch Hill Landfill will be closed January 1st or beginning
after Christmas you can drop off your tree at the Hatch
Hill Solid Waste Disposal Facility, South Belfast Avenue 8 AM to 4:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday. NO ARTIFICIAL TREES ACCEPTED AND
ALL TREES MUST BE FREE OF STANDS AND DECORATIONS. NO WREATHS OR
GARLANDS. Trees will be accepted through mid April 15 FREE
OF CHARGE. THERE WILL BE NO CURBSIDE PICK UP OF CHRISTMAS TREES. Any
questions please call Public Works at 626-2435 or Hatch Hill at
626-2440.
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Bangor, Maine
Residents may drop off Christmas
trees at Bangor Public Works, 530 Maine Ave. Drop off hours are
during daylight hours Monday through Sunday. As part of the City
commitment to recycle, the trees will be chipped, with some chips
being used as a mulch and erosion control throughout the City. The
remainder will be sold as bio mass. Please remove all wire and or
metal objects from trees. Residents without means of transportation
may place their tree curbside. Curbside collection will begin on
Monday after January 1st. Curbside collection will end on the second Friday
in January. Wreaths will not be collected for chipping either at Public
Works compound, or curbside. Discarded wreaths are to be placed
curbside with residential trash on the scheduled collection day. For
information please call 992-4500.
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Brewer, Maine
Following Christmas, the City provides two
means of disposal for resident's Christmas trees. We provide a
central drop off site in the parking lot near the lower entrance to
the Brewer Auditorium off Wilson Street where the trees can be
dropped off anytime throughout the month of January. The second
option is trees can be taken to the Brewer Landfill during regular
business hours and added to the brush pile, free of charge. Trees
dropped off at the Auditorium are picked up weekly by the Public
Works Department and added to the brush pile at the landfill. Once a
year, the entire brush pile at the landfill is ground up by a
contractor, at no cost to the City, and the material is all reused.
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Brunswick, Maine
Christmas Tree Recycling
Collection: Public Works will be collecting Christmas trees curbside
from Tuesday afyer New Year's Day, through the second Friday
in January. Collection will follow the
regular trash collection route schedule, weather permitting. To help
with our Christmas tree collection we ask all to do as follows: The
tree must have all decorations removed, be unbagged and have any
tree stand removed. Place the tree curbside. The tree will be
collected by Public Works staff and not by our trash collector, Pine
Tree Waste, Inc. We may not be able to collect all trees on the same
day as trash collection but we will continue collecting the routes
for two weeks. Please make sure the tree remains free for collection
and does not get frozen in place or buried by snow. If you miss our
collection or want to recycle your tree sooner you may bring your
tree to either the Graham Road Landfill when it is open (Tue. thru
Sat., 8 am to 3:30 pm) or you may drop your tree off at the Leaf
Drop-Off area on Industry Rd - only during this collection period.
The Industry Rd area is available for drop-off 24/7.
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Cape Elizabeth, Maine
Christmas trees and Brush,
Demolition, Metal Goods, and Wood Waste: These items may be
deposited in a designated area pursuant to the fee schedule on these
page. The facility will accept up to the equivalent of two (2)
pick-up truck loads per day of separated materials. There is no
charge for Christmas Trees.
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Chelsea, Maine; Riverside Disposal - Annual
Christmas Tree Pick-up; This year's Christmas Tree Pick-up date is Wednesday, January 12, 2022. In order to be put on the tree pickup list, you MUST
give our office a call at (207) 623-2577. If you do not call, unfortunately your tree will NOT be picked up. In 2022, it will be $12.00 per tree.
Any tree picked up after the scheduled date will be charged $20.00 per tree. (Prices may change in future years)
Riverside Disposal, 700 River Rd, Chelsea, Maine 04330. Phone: 207-623-2577.
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Cumberland and North Yarmouth
UPDATE for 2022: I see NOTHING on their website about it for this year - they may have discontinued doing it. Call: 829-5063 or e-mail: [email protected]
The Lions Club
will pick-up and recycle your Christmas Tree for a fee. All proceeds
will benefit the community and trees will be recycled and turned
into mulch for Cumberland residents. Please put out only trees for
collection (no wreaths!). To prepare trees for collection you must
remove ALL decorations (including lights, wires, ornaments, hooks,
tinsel, and garland) from trees. Trees must be placed curbside
before 8 am on the first Saturday in January. You will be notified by email
if the scheduled pick-up date will be changed due to
inclement weather. To order your Christmas Tree pick-up: please
complete the form below to pay by credit card, or download this
mail-in form to pay by check. All orders need to be received BEFORE December 29th. Your Christmas Tree will be picked-up in
Cumberland and North Yarmouth. You can also donate to our Community
Service Fund to help us distribute poinsettias and fruit baskets
during the Holiday Season to local shut-ins, bereaved, elderly, and
lonely community members. If you have any questions, please contact
us at 829-5063 or e-mail: [email protected]nylions.org
- Gorham, Maine - Phone:
(207) 222-1600. Residents can dispose of their cut Christmas trees at Gorham Public Works - 80 Huston Rd. Trees can be dropped off near the silver
bullet recycling units. Additionally, local farms may be accepting cut Christmas trees - goats find these to be tasty snacks! Please note:
This is for cut trees only; artificial trees are not recyclable and must be disposed of as trash. Curbside pickup of Christmas trees is not
available.
- Old Orchard Beach, Maine - Phone:
(207) 934-5714. Christmas Trees may be dropped off at the Transfer Station on Dirgo Drive, during the following days/hours:
Wednesday - 7:30 am
to 2:30 pm; Saturday - 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.
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Saco, Maine
- Monday, after New Year's Day, The Public Works department will begin collecting trees placed curbside on public ways beginning Monday after New
Year's Day in early January. All trees must be placed out by Monday by 7:00 am, citywide. We begin collection at one of the city and go street to
street until every public way has been visited once. If you miss your streets collection, or chose not to wait, the Transfer Station will take trees
free of charge for Saco Residents. (please note, we do not enter into private developments or private roads)Should there be a significant snow or ice event,
please pull in your tree from the roadway, as we will not collect any frozen or buried trees.
Trees are always accepted at the Transfer station (Foss Rd) year
round, Free to Saco Residents, during normal business hours.
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Scarborough Maine - Christmas Tree Disposal in January -
Public Works will pick up your discarded Christmas tree throughout the month of January. Place your tree on the curbside (only real trees, nothing
artificial) on the same day as your trash collection any week in January. Please place it far enough from the curb that it will not get hit by a car
or covered by a snowplow, but still within reach for our crew. Please put it out on the DAY of your trash collection so it doesn't freeze to the
ground. If it is snowing on the day you planned to put your tree out for pick up, please wait until the following week. If snowing (or otherwise
dangerous road conditions) our crew will be plowing/treating the roads rather than picking up trees. (Priorities!) Please Note: Trash & tree pick up
will not be happening at the same time; Public Works is doing tree pickup separate from the Pine Tree Waste trash/recycle pickup. Thank you for your
patience! Questions? Email: [email protected]. Phone: 207-730-4400.
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South Berwick, Maine
Christmas trees can be
brought to the Transfer Station during normal operating hours. The
Recycling Center is located on Agamenticus Road. (Take a right off
of Portland Street at the monument).
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South Portland, Maine
Curbside Christmas tree pickup begins Monday after Christmas and will run through the second Friday in January, (weather permitting - storms such as the
one expected on Thursday may delay collection). Please place trees curbside by Monday, morning. Shaking off any new snowfall will help us to
see them. Specific dates of both collections will be advertised in the Portland Press Herald and the South Portland Sentry, as well as on the city
website and via South Portland's e-community newsletter. If you should miss the collection dates, these items can be brought to the Transfer
Facility, free of charge. Trees may also be brought to the Transfer Facility at no charge. 929 Highland Ave South Portland, ME 04106.
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Waterville, Maine
Waterville Christmas Tree
collection: Trees can be left curbside or dropped off at the Quarry
Road Recreation Area. The City of Waterville Department of Public
Works will begin picking up Christmas trees the week of January 2;
weather permitting. Trees should be left at the curb. Be sure to
remove all decorations, tinsel and stands. Residents may also
discard trees at the Quarry Road Recreation Area located off North
Street. They should be placed on the left side of the road below the
I-95 overpass. Trees will later be chipped and reused as mulch. For
more information, call the Department of Public Works at 680-4744. More details will be posted on our website and City facebook page as it becomes available.
Electronics Waste Disposal/Recycling:
give IT get IT (60 Industrial Street) � For more information, please visit their website or
contact give IT get IT directly at 872-2615.
Pine Tree Waste (2 LaFluer Road)- Disposal fees may apply. For more information, please contact
Capitol Transfer/Pine Tree Waste at 873-1219.
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West Bath, Maine - Unfortunately, they published
nothing online about what to do with your Christmas tree, so you will have to call them.
West Bath Transfer Station, Arthur Reno Road (off State
Road), operated by Pine Tree Waste, 888-857-0800 or 883-9777.
Casella (Pine Tree Waste) maintains a drop-off center where household trash
can be dropped off for a small fee. Residents can also drop off recycling for free in addition to curbside recycling.
Public drop-off hours are:
Tuesdays, 3 pm to 5pm Saturdays, 8 am to 2 pm.
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Westbrook, Maine
- Phone: 207-854-0660. Christmas trees will be collected curbside from December 26 - January 12. All decorations and stands must be removed for
collection. Please note: This service is not connected to trash collection and generally will not occur on the same day
