Riverside County residents can recycle their natural Christmas trees free of charge by dropping them off at designated county landfills. The recycled trees will be processed into a nutrient-rich soil amendment.
Christmas trees must be stripped of all decorations, lights, tinsel, and tree stands in order to be recycled. Flocked trees covered with artificial snow cannot be recycled through this program and need to be cut up and placed in the regular trash bin.
Most trash haulers in Riverside County will collect Christmas trees curbside for two weeks after Christmas. Residents should prepare their trees by cutting any tree taller than four feet in half and placing it next to or inside of the green-waste container on regular collection day.
For those without a curbside pickup program, several drop-off locations will accept up to three properly prepared residential Christmas trees for free through Jan. 11:
- A. Lua Wood Recycling, 18938 Mermack Ave., Lake Elsinore (accepting until Jan. 3)
- Riverside County Badlands Landfill, 31125 Ironwood Ave., Moreno Valley (accepting until Jan. 4)
- Riverside County Blythe Landfill, 1000 Midland Road, Blythe (accepting until Jan. 4)
- Riverside County Lamb Canyon Landfill, 16411 Lamb Canyon Road, Beaumont (accepting until Jan. 4)
- Riverside County Oasis Landfill, 84-505 84th Avenue, Oasis (accepting until Jan. 8)
- El Sobrante Landfill, 10910 Dawson Canyon Road, Corona (accepting until Jan. 11)
- B. P. John Recycling, 28700 Matthews Road, Romoland (accepting until Jan. 11)Burrtec customers only:
- Burrtec/Coachella Transfer Station, 87011 Landfill Road, #A, Coachella
- Burrtec/Edom Hill Transfer Station, 70100 Edom Hill Road, Cathedral City
- Burrtec/Robert A. Nelson Transfer Station, 1830 Agua Mansa Road, Riverside
For more information on this program, contact the Riverside County Department of Waste Resources at 951-486-3200 or visit the waste guide for additional green holiday suggestions at https://rcwaste.org/green-holiday-suggestions.
