How to Treecycle Your Christmas Tree in Pierce County

As you recycle your wrapping paper, don’t forget to treecycle your Christmas tree.

Pierce County residents who subscribe to yard waste collection service can place their unflocked tree in their container. Flocked trees cannot be recycled and must be disposed of as garbage.

Residents may also recycle their tree free of charge at Pierce County’s transfer stations and landfills. For locations, visit www.piercecountywa.org/treecycle.

How to treecycle

To treecycle, remove the tree stand, tinsel, decorations and any nails or staples. Place the tree in your yard waste container for pick up on your regularly scheduled collection day. The tree must fit into the closed container, so cut the tree into pieces if necessary. If your tree isn’t in the cart, you may be charged for the additional pick up.

“All trees collected are composted into PREP Compost (Pierce County Recycled Earth Products), a beneficial soil amendment that is popular with home and commercial gardeners,” said Sheryl Rhinehart, outreach coordinator. “The compost created enhances soil quality, saves water, and reduces reliance on chemical fertilizers. Treecycling also helps save valuable landfill space.”

The cities of Milton, Tacoma, Puyallup and Ruston have special collection programs for households within their city limits. Contact your city hall or local garbage hauler for more details.

Steilacoom Christmas Treecycling Drop-Off Weekend

Jan. 5 & 6
9 a.m.–3 p.m.

Public Works Utility Yard
1030 Roe St.

Fundraiser for Steilacoom Boy Scout Troop #71
Suggested Donation: $3.00

Boy Scout tree pickup (Gig Harbor only)

-Saturday morning, Jan. 5

-Must have trees on curb by 8 a.m.

The Boy Scouts of Troop 244 will be picking up Christmas trees to be recycled into compost chips as part of their annual fundraiser- just have your tree curbside by 8am. Suggested donations of $25-$5 can be made by attaching an envelope to the tree with checks made payable to "Boy Scout Troop #244".

To check & see if your neighborhood is included, to request pick up or learn more about Scouting, please call Cheryl at 253-686-0892. Sorry, no wreaths or flocked trees. Thank you for your support of Gig Harbor Boy Scout Troop 244.