Here is how and where to dispose of Christmas trees, lights and glass in Pierce County
Christmas is now behind us, and it may be time for you to take down the holiday decorations.
Many of those decorations might end up being stored for the next holiday season, but if you have any old Christmas lights, natural Christmas trees or old artificial trees that you need to throw out, we’ve got a few recycling and disposal options for you.
And if you’ve accumulated a large amount of glass bottles over the holidays, we’ve got you covered with recycling options for those, too.
Below are few ways you can dispose of or recycle natural Christmas trees, artificial Christmas trees, Christmas string lights and glass bottles.
Tree disposal
Disposing of a tree, or “treecycling,” can be done in many ways.
Undecorated and unflocked Christmas trees can be disposed of into the yard-waste bin for collection as long as the lid closes completely. That might require you to cut your tree into sections.
Transfer stations in Pierce County
According to Pierce County website, unflocked Christmas trees can also be recycled at several transfer stations in Pierce County:
- Anderson Island, 9607 Steffensen Road
- Bonney Lake, 11710 Prairie Ridge Drive E.
- Gig Harbor, 14515 54th Ave. NW
- Key Peninsula, 5900 Key Peninsula Highway
- Puyallup, 17925 Meridian St. E.
- Tacoma, 3510 S. Mullen St.
LeMay Pierce County Refuse
Le May Pierce County refuse customers can place their natural Christmas tree in their blue yard-waste cart. The tree must be free of tinsel, lights, decorations, tree stands and plastic, and needs to fit inside the closed cart. That could require customers to cut the tree into smaller pieces.
Customers who wish to dispose of Christmas decorations can place them in their green yard-waste cart.
The cart must be at the curb by 6 a.m. on the scheduled collection day in order to be collected.
Murrey’s Disposal
Murrey’s Disposal customers will be able to dispose of their artificial trees in two ways.
The first option is for customers to place their artificial tree into their garbage cart so it can be picked up free of charge. Christmas decorations can also be placed in the garbage cart.
The second option is to drop off the artificial tree at the Hidden Valley Transfer Station, 17925 Meridian St. E.
Customers who want to dispose of their natural Christmas trees can place it in their yard-waste bin. The tree must fit inside of the closed bin and must be free of tinsel, lights, decorations and tree stands. Any extra yard waste that does not fit inside of the bin must be put into compostable bags and placed next to the container. There will be an additional fee charged per extra bag, according to the Murrey’s Disposal website.
All containers must be placed curbside before 6 a.m. even if it is raining.
Christmas lights recycling locations
If you’d like to recycle Christmas light strings, here are six locations in Pierce County:
Calbag Metal, 1602 Marine View Drive
McClendon Hardware, stores in Puyallup, Sumner and Tacoma.
Recycling Resources, 5317 131st St. Ct. E.
Uptekk, 101 Lund Road.
Tacoma Recovery & Transfer Center, 3510 S Mullen St.
University Place Refuse & Recycling, 2815 Rochester St. W.
Glass recycling locations
Prepare glass for recycling by doing the following:
- Collect bottles and jars used for drinks or food
- Rinse containers
- Remove lids
- Wine glasses, vases, or other types of glass are not recyclable and are considered trash.
There are nine recycling centers and 19 glass drop-off locations in Pierce County. Below are a few locations:
- Tacoma Recovery & Transfer Center, 3510 S Mullen St.
- Gig Harbor, Purdy Transfer Station, 14515 54th Ave. NW.
- Puyallup, Hidden Valley Transfer Station, 17925 Meridian Ave. E.
Bonney Lake, 11710 Prairie Ridge Drive E.
Fife, Murrey’s Disposal, 70th Ave. E. & 48th St. E.
University Place Refuse, 2815 Rochester St. W
To see a full list of recycling centers and glass drop-off locations, visit the Pierce County website or view the county’s interactive map that lists transfer stations and recycling centers above.
