Marin waste companies to collect Christmas trees for composting

Several waste management services in Marin County are offering free curbside collection and recycling of Christmas trees.

The trees will be composted rather than being dumped in a landfill. The practice prevents trees from producing the greenhouse gas methane when they decompose at landfills, according to the Marin County Hazardous and Solid Waste Joint Powers Authority, known as Zero Waste Marin.

Recology Sonoma Marin, which serves Novato and western Marin, hauls Christmas trees to the EarthCare compost center in Novato. The resulting compost and soil amendments are then offered to local farmers, said Celia Furber, a manager for Recology.

“The soil amendments not only add important nutrients to the soil, but also sequester carbon from the atmosphere, directly combating climate change,” she said.

Recology plans to collect Christmas trees from Jan. 5 to 9. West Marin customers are advised to either cut up trees to fit in their compost carts or to leave trees at a dropoff location listed by Zero Waste Marin.

Marin Sanitary Service processes Christmas trees with other wood-based yard waste.

“The collected material is sorted, processed and turned into clean energy at plants where coal was formerly used,” said Magda Loczi, a manager at the company. “By processing trees in this way, we help reduce dependence on fossil fuels for the region.”

Marin Sanitary Service customers can have their trees collected at no charge through Jan. 16. After that, customers must call to request tree collection and pay a $5 fee.

The company says residents should leave only natural Christmas trees that are free of ornaments, lights and tinsel for pickup. Christmas tree owners must cut up trees if they are more than 6 feet tall.

Matt Willemsen, general manager of Mill Valley Refuse Service, said his staff needs trees to be cut into 4-foot pieces. He said the waste collectors must pick up trees by hand.

“We get some really large, 10- to 12-foot trees that are too big for the garbage trucks,” Willemsen said. “There are some that look like they were cut out of Muir Woods.”

The company will offer free pickups for customers until Jan. 16. An additional fee may apply if the tree is collected after Jan. 16.

“We ask you to put your tree on the curb, and we’ll swing by and pick it up,” Willemsen said.

The Tamalpais Community Services District is offering free tree collections to customers from Tuesday to Friday. Customers will be charged $30 if they leave trees for collection after Friday.

Bay Cities Refuse will collect Christmas trees left at the curb or cut up to fit into green bins for its customers in Sausalito, Marin City and nearby communities. No date restrictions apply.

Christmas tree dropoff sites in Marin:

Kentfield: College of Marin, parking lot 12, 700 College Ave., through Jan. 16.

Larkspur: Piper Park, 250 Doherty Drive, and Niven Park, 5 Barry Way, through Jan. 16.

San Rafael: Marin Resource Recovery Center at 565 Jacoby St., Pickleweed Park at 50 Canal St. and Scotty’s Market parking lot at 620 Manuel T. Freitas Parkway through Jan. 16.

Marinwood: Marinwood Community Center, 775 Miller Creek Road, through Jan. 16.

Point Reyes Station: Fire station and Fourth and B streets, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Jan. 16.

Ross: Marin Art and Garden Center, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., through Jan. 16.

Sausalito: Martin Luther King Jr. Park, 610 Coloma St., through Jan. 31.

Bolinas: Bolinas-Stinson Resource Recovery Project, 25 Olema Bolinas Road, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday except Tuesdays.

Tomales: Fire station, 599 Dillon Beach Road, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Jan. 16.

Woodacre: Fire station at 33 Castle Rock Road, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Jan. 16.