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

Scroll down this page for local North Dakota 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:

• See this page for local options to easily recycle your Christmas holiday lights
• To find out how to recycle almost any other type of Christmas holiday waste from wrapping paper to toys and electronics, see this page. Ornaments and light strings are usually placed into your curbside collection bin. Some localities have year-round collection centers. The same is true of wrapping paper and boxes. 

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!

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

• Bismarck, ND - Christmas Tree Collection: Christmas trees will be collected from December 31 through January 10, 2019
  Remove all lights, ornaments, and stands from the tree.
  Make sure the tree is not wrapped in any plastic or placed inside a plastic bag.
  Christmas trees will be picked up on the regular scheduled collection day
  Christmas trees will be picked up at the regular collection point
  Apartment Complexes should set Christmas trees on the boulevard for collection.
  Condos and Townhomes (3 or more units) should set Christmas trees on the boulevard for collection.
  A separate truck will collect the Christmas trees to be recycled.
• Fargo, ND - Christmas tree recycling. Christmas trees can be recycled into wood chips. Trees are typically collected during the first full week of January on your garbage pickup day. Please place trees with your regular household garbage, not on snowbanks. Please remove all plastic bags, lights and metal stands. Staff will attempt to collect on garbage day but it may be a day or two later.
  Place trees 5 feet from your garbage cart
  Please do not deposit trees on snow banks
  Remove plastic bags, lights, ornaments, wood and metal stands
  It is helpful if you can place your tree on the boulevard instead of in the alley
  Residents can also bring trees to the landfill, where they will be chipped into mulch. See Landfill hours of operation .Fargo will also take your Christmas lights, the screw-in and LED type, and your Christmas trees for recycling. Bring your lights to the hazardous waste building in north Fargo, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday through the end of January.
  

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