Sarasota County Florida: Where and How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree After the Holidays and in January

Scroll down this page for local Sarasota County Florida 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!

Sarasota County Florida: Where and How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree After the Holidays and in January

Sarasota County - Click here for locations, updated information and more details. Christmas trees - cut into 4 ft long peices; picked up curbside on regularly scheduled yard waste day. Place old Christmas trees at the curbside on your normal yard trash
collection day. Remove lights, tinsel, and all other decorations. Cut tree down t4-foot-long pieces.

Holiday Recycling and Garbage - Recycling Tips and Reminders:

Lights
Recycle old lights at large hardware retail stores.
DO NOT put them in your recycling bin.
Styrofoam Packing Material
Dispose of Styrofoam packing material in the garbage.
DO NOT recycle block or loose Styrofoam packing material.
Many package shipping stores will take packing peanuts for reuse.
Electronics
Call 941-493-4100 to schedule curbside collection of old televisions and computer monitors.

• Other items that may be collected curbside are listed below. A complete list and preparation instructions can be viewed in the Residential How-To Guide.
  • Appliances
  • Electronics* (no TVs or monitors-may be placed curbside)
  • Bulk waste
  • Construction wastes (limited to four, 32-gallon containers, each weighing 40 lbs. or less)
  • Garbage
  • Over-sized waste (furniture, mattresses)
  • Recyclables
  • Tires
  • Used Motor Oil
• Check out, what happens to the items placed in your recycling bin.

Wrapping Paper
DO NOT recycle foil/metal coated wrapping paper.
Remove ribbons and bows.
Place other non-metallic wrapping paper in your red bin.
Cards
DO NOT recycle cards that have metal components or decoration.
Recycle other cards and envelopes in your red bin.
Boxes
Cut boxes down ttwfeet by three feet and recycle in your red bin.

Collection Hours
Monday to Friday, 6 am to 8 pm
No collection service provided on New Year's Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Service will be delayed one day for the remainder of the holiday week.
Any regular Friday collection delayed by a holiday will occur on Saturday.