With Christmas and New Year’s Eve behind us, now is the time many people begin to take down their holiday decorations.
Edmontonians with natural Christmas trees are asked to leave them on their side next to their garbage bags by 7 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10.
City crews will pick up trees within three weeks but not necessarily on residents’ regular garbage day.
People are asked to ensure all decorations are taken off the tree. Trees should not be put inside garbage bags.
“If a resident has a really large tree we ask that they cut them down into six-foot or two-metre lengths,” Garry Spotowski, education program coordinator with Edmonton Waste Management Services, said.
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Watch below: While the holiday season is just coming to an end, the cleanup from all that celebrating continues. As Quinn Ohler reports, all that wrapping paper and all those Christmas trees need to go somewhere and it’s important all the waste ends up in the right spot.
People who live in multi-family units are asked to take their natural trees to a recycling depot or Eco station free of charge until Jan. 31. The city asks that Christmas trees not be left beside apartment recycling or waste bins.
Trees will be taken to the Edmonton Waste Management Centre where they will be chipped and composted.
When it comes to garbage, the amount coming in to the waste management centre doubles in the two weeks following Christmas.
“Last year after Christmas, there were days when we were getting about 900 tonnes of just garbage being picked up from residents,” Erika Droessler, with Edmonton Waste Management Services, said.
“That’s like seven blue whales worth.”
An extra shift of people is being brought in every day to help with the holiday rush.
READ MORE: Garbage or recycle? Where does my Christmas trash belong?
People who want to get rid of their artificial trees are asked to take them to the Reuse Centre. The service is free as long as trees are in a box with all of their parts so they can be made available to organizations and other people for reuse.
Artificial trees that are not in good enough shape to be reused should be placed out with the garbage on regular collection day.
Watch below: Edmonton is currently the only city in the Capital Region that doesn’t make residents separate their organics, such as dinner scraps and banana peels. But a new waste contract may change that. Fletcher Kent reports.
The City of Edmonton has been recycling Christmas trees since 1990. Last year, 12,123 trees were collected for recycling.