EDMONTON -- Curbside collection of natural Christmas trees starts Monday.
Residents are being asked to place their un-bagged tree on its side next to their garbage bags. Pick-ups will be weather dependent and not necessarily on scheduled collection days.
If you are planning to put your tree out, there are some guidelines to follow to make sure it’s acceptable for composting.
"Don't have anything on it.” Guillaume Lemieux with the City of Edmonton said. “Just the tree; that's absolutely the most important thing.”
“Make the [tree] visible for us so that we know where it is. Make sure to not put it too far into the snowbank."
All ornaments, tinsel, garlands, nails, screws and tree stands must be properly removed.
If you have an exceptionally large tree this year, it should be cut into two-metre 6.5 foot lengths.
For residents who live in apartments and condos the process for disposal is different.
Residents can drop-off their natural tree for free at a Recycling Depot from now until Jan. 30 or an Eco Station anytime during the year.
Christmas trees should not be placed in or beside recycling or waste bins.
As for artificial trees, consider donating it to a local charity or second-hand store.
Artificial trees are not fit to reuse or recycle and should be set out with your garbage on regular collection days. They need to be boxed, bagged or bundled and no heavier than 20 kilograms and no longer than 1.2 metres.
In 2020 alone, 8,570 trees, weighing more than 95 tonnes were collected in the month of January.
Real trees will be picked up as late as Jan. 31.
