Looking to recycle your Christmas tree? Here's where you can at the Jersey Shore

Amanda Oglesby, Asbury Park Press
·4 min read

Despite being evergreen, the live Christmas tree survives only so long after the holiday season ends. Yet, the tree's usefulness does not end when the needles start to drop.

Natural Christmas trees are routinely recycled into woodchips, mulch and other natural products. They can serve as dune supports and reduce erosion along waterways. All those uses are why the Ocean County Department of Parks and Recreation collected about 1,400 live Christmas trees last year for recycling, according to the county Board of Commissioners.

"With so many park locations around Ocean County to choose from, it is easy for our residents to access a nearby park where live trees can be dropped off after celebrating the holiday," said county Commissioner Virginia E. Haines, who serves as chairwoman to the Department of Parks and Recreation.

To prepare trees for collection, all decorations must first be removed. Flocked trees generally cannot be recycled by most facilities.

In Monmouth County, a variety of municipal public works departments are collecting trees.

Snow begins to accumulate on a Christmas tree along South Main Street in Allentown Monday morning, December 2, 2019.
Snow begins to accumulate on a Christmas tree along South Main Street in Allentown Monday morning, December 2, 2019.

Asbury Park: Trees can be placed curbside for collection through January.

Avon: Christmas trees and other holiday trash will be picked up Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Colts Neck: Undecorated trees will be collected curbside starting Jan. 16. Trees should not be placed in the street. Artificial trees, wreaths, brush and other debris will not be collected with the live trees.

Eatontown: Trees can be placed curbside.

Englishtown: Trees will be picked up curbside through January.

Fair Haven: Christmas trees will be picked up curbside through January.

Holmdel: Tree pickups will be held through January, with the final sweep starting Jan. 23.

Howell: Trees should be placed curbside by Jan. 8. Pickup begins Jan. 9.

Marlboro: Christmas trees will be picked up curbside the weeks of Jan. 8 and 15.

Matawan: Place trees curbside January and February. After February, trees will be picked up the first Tuesday of every month along with yard waste.

Middletown: Trees in the northern portion of the township will be collected Jan. 14. In the southern portion of town, trees will be picked up Jan. 21. Trees will also be accepted at the Middletown Recycling Center, 52 Kanes Lane, during business hours, which run Thursday through Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Millstone: Trees should be placed curbside, near driveways, before Jan. 9. Wreaths, lights, trimmings and other debris will not be collected.

Neptune City: Trees should be placed curbside on Mondays in January and February, except on holidays when trees will be picked up on Tuesdays.

Red Bank: Christmas trees will be collected curbside through the second week of February.

Wall: Christmas trees can be placed curbside through the first half of January.

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In Ocean County, trees can be dropped off at Toms River parks through January to be made into wood chips. Parks that will collect trees are: Skyview Park at Vaughn Avenue, Riverwood Park at Riverwood Avenue, Silverton Park at Maine Street, Bayside Park at Bay Boulevard in Ortley, Bey Lea Park at the tennis court and parking lot, Chadwick Beach Park at Strickland Boulevard, Money Island Park at Longfellow Avenue, Winding River Park's south entrance off Route 37 West, and the Toms River Township Recycling Center on Church Road.

Around Ocean County, county parks will accept trees through Jan. 31 for use as wood chips. Drop-off locations are:

  • Cattus Island County Park, 1170 Cattus Island Blvd., Toms River.

  • Cloverdale Farm, 34 Cloverdale Road, Barnegat.

  • Wells Mills County Park, 905 Route 532, Waretown.

  • Ocean County Park, 659 Ocean Ave., Lakewood.

  • Beaver Dam County Park, 3430 Bridge Ave., Point Pleasant.

  • Jakes Branch County Park, 1100 Double Trouble Road, Beachwood.

  • Mill Creek County Park, 11 Chelsea Ave., Berkeley.

  • Enos Pond County Park, 330 East Lacey Road in the Forked River section of Lacey.

  • Robert J. Miller Airpark, 901 Route 530, Berkeley.

  • Freedom Fields County Park, 1160 Route 539, Little Egg Harbor.

  • Patriots County Park, 485 Bowman Road, Jackson.

  • Stanley H. "Tip" Seaman County Park, 120 Lakeside Drive, Tuckerton.

  • A. Paul King County Park, 2 W. Bay Ave., Stafford.

  • Ocean County Golf Course at Atlantis, 261 Country Club Blvd., Little Egg Harbor.

  • Ocean County Golf Course at Forge Pond, 301 Chambers Bridge Ave., Brick.

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Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Where to recycle your Christmas tree at the Jersey Shore