SAN ANTONIO – If you’re looking to recycle your Christmas decorations as the new year starts, there are several places in San Antonio you can do it.
The City of San Antonio’s Solid Waste Management Division (SWMD) announced four free drop-off locations for live, undecorated Christmas trees from Saturday through Jan. 15.
Trees for drop-off must not have any decorations. They also need to be loose and unbagged, city officials said.
Smaller live trees may also be placed in the green organic carts during normal weekly collection.
The drop-off locations are below:
- Culebra Drop-Off Center - 7030 Culebra Road, San Antonio, Texas, 78238. Open Tuesday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon
- Frio City Road Drop-Off Center - 1531 Frio City Road, San Antonio, Texas, 78226. Open Tuesday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon
- Rigsby Road Bulky Drop-Off Center - 2755 Rigsby Road, San Antonio, Texas, 78222. Open Tuesday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon
- Bitters Brush Recycling Center - 1800 Wurzbach Pkwy, San Antonio, Texas, 78216. Open Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“We don’t want them to go to the landfill,” said Marcus Lee with the City of San Antonio’s Solid Waste Management Division. “Anything that we can do to divert any material, not just these trees, from the landfill is a mission, a goal really, for the city.”
Lee also says that free mulch from the collected trees will be available to pick up from the Bitters Brush Recycling Center in mid-January.
“We’re ahead of the planting season. I know it’s January, but very soon, it’ll be March and April. And so you’re thinking about your gardens and your yard, and free is good, right?” said Lee.
If you have any broken Christmas lights, Monterrey Metal Recycling Solutions will accept them to scrap copper from them.
“Every year in America, about 150 million Christmas light strands are purchased in the United States,” said Jeff Vexler, the Vice President of Monterrey Metal Recycling. “You’re going to bring them in; we will weigh them, and we’ll pay you for them. They don’t bring a lot of money, but it is some money, and it’s a lot better than them winding up in the landfill.”
