Residents in north Oxfordshire can kick off the new year sustainably by having their real Christmas trees collected for composting.
Published: Monday, 30th December 2024
From Tuesday, 7 January, Cherwell District Council’s waste and recycling crews will collect trees from the kerbside on collection day. Trees need to be left next to the blue recycling bin, and any over five feet tall must be cut in half.
Councillor Ian Middleton, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood Services, said: “For many people, a real Christmas tree is the focal point of their household festive decorations. Whilst the most sustainable option is a living tree that can be nurtured and re-used in subsequent years, there are still over eight million cut Christmas trees being sold each year, and it’s important to make sure those are disposed of in the most sustainable way.
“The easiest way to ensure that your cut tree can go on to serve a useful purpose is to recycle it from the comfort of your home. You can do this by putting it out for collection alongside your blue bin.
“Christmas time sees extra household waste being generated, and I’d like to thank our bin crews for the hard work they put into ensuring that all this gets collected. I’d also like to recognise the brilliant work residents do with correctly sorting out their waste and recycling – I hope we can make an even greater impact in 2025.”
Christmas trees and cut sections can be left next to the blue recycling bin on collection day from 7 January to 17 January inclusive. They will then be taken to a special site at Ardley, where they’ll be composted at high temperatures before being redistributed to farmers as compost. A garden waste subscription is not needed for trees to be collected.
Residents should remove all decorations to ensure their trees are ready for collection. The crews can also take away broken fairy lights and other small electrical items for recycling. They just need to be placed in a standard-size carrier bag and left on top of any bin on collection day.
Alternatively, residents with real Christmas trees still potted with roots are encouraged to care for them in their gardens until next year.