St. Louis area Christmas tree recycling locations

Haley Fitzpatrick
·2 min read

ST. LOUIS – Between Thanksgiving and New Year, residential waste increases by 25%. As the Christmas season winds down, the City of St. Louis Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department is offering locations throughout the city to take your live Christmas trees to be properly recycled.

“Once they’re dropped off into the yard waste, which is the normal thing we compost, we actually take them into a grinder and put them into a compost pile, and anywhere between two to four months, we’ll turn into nutrient-rich SDA-certified compost!” Rich Blosser, marketing manager for St. Louis Compost, Inc. said.

When dropping off your live trees, make sure they are free of ornaments and lights. They must be removed from their tree stands and they cannot be bagged or covered. Fake Christmas trees, as well as wreaths, are not accepted at these locations.

People looking to dispose of broken or non-working Christmas lights can do so at Tillis Park through Jan. 28. Just look for a collection bin at the entrance of the park.

St. Louis City:

  1. If you live in the city, there are two ways to recycle your tree.

  2. Option one: Put it in your alley for bulk pickup. Don’t stick it in dumpsters or recycling bins.

  3. Option two: Take it to one of three city parks by January 9.

    • Forest Park, Lower Muny parking lot.

    • O’Fallon Park Recreation Complex (YMCA), 4343 W Florissant Avenue.

    • Carondelet Park, by the gate at Grand Drive and Holly Hills Drive.

St. Louis County:

  1. St. Louis County gives trees to the Missouri Department of Conservation for fish habitats or turn them into mulch.

  2. Drop off your tree at one of four county parks until January 14.

    • Spanish Lake Park: 12500 Spanish Pond Road.

    • Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park: 13777 Marine Avenue.

    • Queeny Park: 550 Weidman Road.

    • Bee Tree Park: 2701 Finestown Avenue.

  3. Call 314-615-4386 for more info.

St. Charles County:

  1. If you’re in St. Charles, they take trees at two recycling centers from 8:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday.

    • Recycle Works Central: 60 Triad South Drive, St. Charles.

    • Recycle Works West: 2110 East Pitman Ave., Wentzville.

  2. Closed on New Year’s Day, no cutoff date for accepting trees.

  3. Republic Services customers get their trees picked up in the first two weeks of January on their yard waste day. Cut big trees in half. Lights and decorations must go. For questions, call 636-255-6142 (Mon-Fri) or 636-947-5959 (Sat).

Metro East Locations:

  1. Various drop-off points until specified dates in Alton, Belleville, Caseyville Township, Collinsville, Columbia, Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, Granite City, Swansea, Troy, and Wood River.

  2. Each area has its own contact number for questions.

It’s the perfect way to give your tree a new life and keep the holiday spirit alive in a green and sustainable way!

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