Christmas tree collection Sunderland 2020: how to recycle your real tree - and date you should leave it out

A few weeks after painstakingly putting up your Christmas tree and making sure your meticulous decorating is near-perfect comes the time when it needs to be taken back down again.

Dismantling the tree in January is always a sad moment as it symbolises the end of the fun festive period - and a return to work for most people.

Fortunately, there’s one good thing that can come from taking down a real Christmas tree, as you are able to easily recycle it so it doesn’t go to waste.

They can be shredded into wood chippings which are then often used in parks and woodland areas, or turned into compost.

Arranging a collection is totally worth it, as disposing a real Christmas tree properly can reduce its carbon footprint by up to 80 percent.

You may have spent hours lovingly decorating your tree, but at some point it’s got to go - so here’s when you can get it picked up over the festive period.

How can I recycle my tree in Sunderland?

In the UK, most local councils will collect Christmas trees as part of their regular rubbish collection, but different councils have different requirements for this.

Sunderland City Council does offer this service, and your tree can simply be placed into your brown garden waste bin ready for collection in the new year.

Garden waste collections don’t start up again in Sunderland until March 2021.

If you’re not already subscribed to the garden waste collection service, you can do it now until 28 February 2021 for £32.50.

Your garden waste bin will then be collected every fortnight.

How else can I recycle my Christmas tree?

In Sunderland, you can also recycle your Christmas tree, free of charge, at one of the Household Waste Recycling Centres at Beach Street, Deptford and Campground, and Wrekenton.

Due to coronavirus restrictions, you will need to book a slot to use the centre at Beach Street and there are also various Covid-secure measures in place.

If that’s not an option for you, you can also book a bulky waste collection through the council, which costs £10 for up to six items.

All you need to do is complete a request form and you can then choose a date for collection.

On collection day, you will need to place your Christmas tree outside your property from 7:30am, as close as possible to the place where the collection vehicle will park.

It will then be collected up to 5:00pm the same day.

What other Christmas items can be recycled?

Other Christmas items can be recycled too, so you can further reduce your carbon footprint.

That includes recyclable Christmas wrapping paper, cardboard boxes from packaging, Christmas cards with glitter or bows removed, and clean tin foil from Christmas food like turkey and mince pies.

These can all be recycled if you place them in the appropriate bin for collection.