EL CAJON, Dec. 15, 2005 - The Christmas tree is the symbol of the holiday season for many people, and it can have a useful life once the ornaments are packed away.

Waste Management of San Diego provides our residential customers in El Cajon and Santee the opportunity to recycle their trees after the holiday season at no extra charge.

Waste Management customers can recycle their Christmas trees for free by cutting them into four-foot sections and placing the trees at the curb on their scheduled pick-up day. Trees will be picked up for recycling during the two weeks following Christmas, beginning Dec. 26 (there will be no delay from the Christmas or New Year's holiday in trash or recycling service). Be sure to remove all decorations, including ornaments, tinsel, lights and the tree stand.

The company’s customers in other regions of San Diego and multi-family complexes in El Cajon or Santee should contact customer service at (619) 596-5100 for more details about tree recycling. Trees may also be dropped off for free at Waste Management’s recycling and buyback center, located at 925 Oconner St. in El Cajon, just south of the intersection of Bradley Ave. and Johnson Ave.

Trees collected in the curbside program will be mulched for reuse. Flocked trees cannot be recycled, but will be collected if cut into four-foot sections and placed into the regular trash cart.

“Every year in California, more than 40,000 tons of Christmas trees require handling at the end of the holiday season. Most communities throughout the state recognize that the final proper resting place for cut Christmas trees is not our landfills,” said Carl Scherbaum, District Manager of Waste Management of San Diego. “If you have a live tree in your home, please recycle it when the holidays are over. The trees can be made into wood chips and mulch for gardens.”

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