Last year, residents dropped off dozens of natural Christmas trees to be recycled. Note that this location has been moved to underneath the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge.
COVINGTON, Ky. - If you decorated your house with a natural Christmas tree and you’re already thinking about stripping it of ornaments and getting rid of it, we can help you with the latter.
The City of Covington is offering residents two ways to recycle their tree: Arrange to have it picked up from your curb on garbage collection day starting Jan. 4, or drop it off at one of three locations starting this weekend.
“We’re making it as easy as possible, because we would rather turn these trees into usable mulch than take up space in our landfills,” said Sheila Fields, the City’s Solid Waste & Recycling Coordinator. “We’re looking to increase the number of trees over last year by a significant margin.”
Fields’ Division is partnering with the Department of Public Works’ Urban Forestry Division, Rumpke Waste & Recycling, and Keep Covington Beautiful for the Christmas Tree Recycling Program. It presents two options:
One, curbside pickup will take place Jan. 4-18. Residents must contact Rumpke at (800) 828-8171 or
covington@rumpke.com 48 hours in advance to request their tree be picked up. The pickup will happen on regular garbage and recycling collection days.
Or two, residents can also drop off trees from Saturday through Jan. 18 at three different locations:
- In South Covington at the parking lot off of Tripoli and Hands Pike, adjacent to Neighborhood Park.
- At the Devou Park Urban Forestry Garage at 1700 Montague Road in Devou Park.
- In the parking lot at 14 Pete Rose Pier, which is on the north side of the Ohio River floodwall near the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge. This is a change from previous years.
Residents should prepare their trees by removing all lights, ornaments, tinsel, and other decorations. Trees should not be placed in plastic bags.
For information about the Christmas Tree Recycling Program, call (859) 292-4417 or see the attached flier.
The recycled trees will be converted into mulch, which will be used by the Urban Forestry Division and offered to residents and neighborhood groups for community gardens and neighborhood beautification efforts. To schedule a mulch pickup, email
Cassandra.homan@covingtonky.gov with Urban Forestry.
“Every year, roughly 40 million tons of compostable yard waste end up in landfills in the United States,” Fields said. “Recycling Christmas trees reduces this number and allows us to give a gift to our community.”
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