Don't kick it to the curb: Pittsburgh offers Christmas tree recycling

Go green and recycle that Christmas tree.

The City of Pittsburgh has five drop-off locations for live trees starting Saturday and running through Jan. 26.

The program was started to invite residents to recycle rather than send trees to a landfill, which happens when they are placed at the curb for garbage collection.

Trees collected will be chipped into pine mulch and made available to the public for free this spring.

Last year, at 12 drop-off sites the city collected more than 109 tons of trees. The Department of Public Works’ Forestry Division and Bureau of Environmental Services decided to offer the collection service again.

The reduction in drop-off locations is correlated to the ability to staff multiple locations during the pandemic, said Alicia Carberry, of Polish Hill, an operations assistant for Mayor Bill Peduto’s office.

She said this is the first year she bought a live tree and plans to recycle it and go back and pick up a bucket of pine mulch in the spring for her gardening projects. That will be available to everyone.

She said the city usually gets the word out about this program through libraries, recreation centers and senior centers but they’ve been closed.

Carberry said with people being home more because of the pandemic that there were probably more real trees purchased this holiday. According to a survey done by Evercore, a research firm, sales are up 29% this year. A Tribune-Review story in early December said Christmas tree sales were going well.

“The mayor has ambitious waste goals and this is a tangible one to get people into the mindset to recycle,” she said. “Whether you put that tree in a red wagon, back on top of your car in the trunk we invite you to bring it to one of the five drop-off locations. It’s about the cycle of a tree’s life.”

The program aligns with Pittsburgh’s “Climate Action Plan 3.0,” which defines milestones for keeping materials out of landfills to meet zero waste goals, according to the city.

The city asks that the trees be stripped clean — no ornaments, netting, tinsel or tree stands.

A location in Highland Park, at the entrance to Pittsburgh Zoo parking lot, will be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The exact address is 7370 Baker St., just off Butler Street.

Here are the other locations:

Hazelwood, 40 Melanchton St.

7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday

(412) 422-6524

Homewood North, 6814 Hamilton Ave.

8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday

(412) 665-3609

Perry North/Observatory Hill, 300 Kilbuck Road

8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday

(412) 323-7209

West End, 1330 Hassler St.

8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday

(412) 937-3054