Summit County Offers Annual Christmas Tree Recycling Through Jan. 12

Summit County is offering its 15th annual Christmas tree recycling program through Monday, Jan. 12, providing five convenient drop-off locations and free landfill acceptance for properly prepared trees and brown waste. The program aims to keep bulky holiday trees out of the county landfill, recover material for landscaping use, and reduce long-term disposal costs.

Residents may drop off trees at the following sites: Wanship next to the Stockyards; Kamas behind the City Building; Oakley beside City Hall; Silver Creek at Bell’s Truck Stop; and Jeremy Ranch across from the gas station. “You can also drop them off at either landfill free of charge,” said Tim Loveday, the county’s solid waste superintendent.

Loveday stressed that trees must be clean of nonorganic materials before drop-off. “But we need the trees to be clean. We have problems every year with people leaving lights on them, but that stuff is contaminated at that point. We can’t recycle that, so you need to pull off those wires.” Proper preparation helps ensure the material can be processed rather than sent to the landfill.

The county diverts the trees and other brown waste from disposal by contracting with a company that chips the material and transports it to Salt Lake for conversion into colored mulch. “But they are recyclables, so to speak,” Loveday said. “We have a program now where we’re chipping all this brown waste from the Christmas trees, the tree branches, that kind of thing. It’s being chipped by a company who takes it to Salt Lake, and then they make colored mulch out of it for landscaping purposes. It keeps it out of our landfill, frees up airspace in the landfill and ultimately saves the county money in the long run.”

This year’s effort builds on a history of local recycling initiatives. Summit County previously chipped trees in-house and used them as wind fences along roadways, but now outsources chipping for logistical efficiency. The current recycling push follows the county’s brown waste diversion program implemented last fall; Loveday reminded residents that yard branches and other clean brown waste can also be brought to either landfill for chipping and reuse. “The Christmas trees are important, but I also like to remind people as we go forward through the year that we do have a brown waste diversion program that we implemented last fall,” Loveday added.

For residents, participating reduces household clutter after the holidays, helps preserve landfill capacity, and supports local landscaping projects that reuse organic material. Drop-offs and landfill acceptance remain open through Jan. 12; properly prepared trees and branches will be accepted at the listed sites.