Curbside Tree Recycling Offered

Local recycling programs have provided yard-trimming carts to residents to make curbside Christmas tree recycling easier.

People are being asked to remove ornaments, tinsel, nails and stands, cut the trees into 4-foot lengths and place the pieces in the carts on their curbs on their regularly scheduled service day.

“The whole idea is to divert those items from the landfill and recycle them,” said Tony Alessi, recycling coordinator for Conejo Valley Disposal, which covers all of Thousand Oaks except for Newbury Park. “Otherwise, it goes into the landfill and takes up space, and we don’t want that.”

Once the trees are collected they are turned into mulch, Alessi said. Thousand Oaks, which uses a recycling company at the Simi Valley Landfill, has the mulch returned for use in filling roadway medians.

“It reduces water runoff from sprinklers or rain and also reduces weeds because it’s used as a ground cover,” said Gail Kaufman, Thousand Oaks’ environmental programs assistant.

Trees of Thousand Oaks residents will be picked up through Jan. 7.

Alessi expects that Conejo Valley Disposal will pick up more than 10,000 Christmas trees.

Because most people don’t dispose of their trees until the new year, Alessi figures 6,000 to 7,000 of those won’t be collected until next week.

For more information on Thousand Oaks Christmas tree recycling, call (805) 449-2428.

For more information on Agoura Hills Christmas tree recycling, call (805) 495-7521.