Christmas Tree Recycling

The City of Sanford encourages residents to recycle their live Christmas trees and wreaths after the holidays.

If the City picks up your trash, the solid waste crews will collect your live tree during your regular yard waste pickup day.

When you are ready to dispose of your natural Christmas tree, place it with your limb pile. Leaf and limb crews will collect and recycle all Christmas trees at our compost facility.

To recycle their live Christmas trees, residents are asked to do the following:

• Remove all decorations, including tinsel, nails, lights, ornaments, bags, and stands. 
• Leave it on the ground with your limb pile on your regular yard waste collection day. 
• Place it at the curb the night before your regularly scheduled collection day or before 7 a.m. on your collection day. 

Decorated natural Christmas trees cannot be recycled, as they can damage equipment and contaminate woodchip grindings.

The collection of natural Christmas trees will begin as early as Christmas Day and continue until residents are ready to dispose of their natural trees. There's no end date for the collection.

What about artificial trees?

Artificial trees cannot be recycled. They should be placed at your curb as bulk trash. While it is not necessary to strip the artificial tree, it is best to remove the ornaments and lights to prevent tangling in our equipment.

By the numbers!

In fiscal year 2023-2024, the City of Sanford collected 8,518,662 pounds of limbs and 7,010,700 pounds of leaves. The City operates its own compost facility at the Public Works Service Center, where collected limbs and leaves are recycled to produce high-quality wood chips and leaf compost for the public.