How and where to recycle your Christmas tree in Ventura County

Eye on the Environment

‘Twas the week after Christmas and all through the County
treecycling was popular; some got back a mulch bounty.
Cut trees were placed in curbside carts with great care,
in hopes the recycling truck soon would be there.

Even though Christmas tree recycling is an annual ritual, differing rules, dates and deadlines in various parts of Ventura County can make collection and drop-off confusing. The advertisements, fliers, and on-line outreach from each city are seen by residents of other areas, but each resident needs to know their own city’s rules.

Other than grinding your tree and using the mulch on site, the best “treecycling” method for the environment, requiring the least amount of truck idling time and transportation, is for you to cut your tree into four-foot segments and fit the pieces into your regular curbside yard waste recycling cart. As long as your tree is free of decorations, stands or other items, it will be mulched with your other yard clippings.

Fire-proofed trees should be placed in trash carts rather than yard waste/organics carts, but trees flocked with fake snow are acceptable in these carts in cities collected by Harrison Industries and Waste Management (WM). In Oxnard and cities and unincorporated areas collected by Athens Services, flocked trees should not be placed in yard waste/organics carts. Oxnard does, however, accept flocked trees with whole tree pickup options, in multi-family bins, and in drop-off programs.

If you cannot cut your tree to fit into your cart, free, whole tree pickup, on the regular day of collection, is scheduled for these areas:

• Harrison & Sons collection in Ojai, Fillmore, Camarillo and Ventura and areas outside cities: Dec. 26 through Jan. 6
• Athens Services in unincorporated areas: January 2 through 13.
• WM (formerly Waste Management) in Simi Valley and Moorpark: through Jan.5.
• WM outside cities: until takeover by Athens or Harrison
• Athens in Santa Paula through Jan. 16 and Thousand Oaks through Jan. 12.
• Port Hueneme Jan. 2-11, and Oxnard Jan.8 to 26.

If you set out a tree after a deadline or in an area without free collection, you may be charged for special collection unless you make separate arrangements. In most areas, you can make these arrangements by calling your trash collector and requesting your annually allocated “free bulky item collection.”

If you live in a multi-family building without yard waste service, ask your apartment manager to contract separately with your hauler for special service.

For businesses, homes without curbside yard waste service and apartments without yard waste collection bins, Christmas tree recycling drop-off sites are available during operating hours and will be free through Jan. 10 at the following locations:

• Agromin Organics, 6859 Arnold Road, near Oxnard, Monday-Friday 7 AM-4:30 PM and Saturday 7 AM to 3 PM.
• Agromin’s corporate office, 201 Kinetic Drive, Oxnard, Monday-Friday 7 AM-4:30 PM.
• Peach Hill Soils’ retail site at Performance Nursery, at 6101 E. Los Angeles Ave., Somis, Monday-Friday 7 AM-4 PM, and Saturday 7 AM-2 PM.
• Peach Hill Soils compost site, 10765 W. Los Angeles Ave., near Moorpark, Monday-Friday, 7 AM-4 PM and Saturday 7 AM-2 PM.

While supplies last, Agromin offers a free bag of potting soil and Peach Hill Soils offers a free bag of mulch to residents dropping off trees at these locations.

Here are some other options:

• WM’s Simi Valley Landfill and Recycling Center, 2801 Madera Road, allows free tree drop-off, Monday to Saturday, 7 AM to 4 PM December 26 through Jan. 13.
• Moorpark provides free drop-off bins on Marquette Street and Park Crest Lane through Jan. 6.
• Oxnard residents may drop off trees free at the Del Norte Regional Recycling and Transfer Station, through January 8, at the scale house Monday-Saturday 5:30 AM to 5 PM. Additional sites, open dawn to dusk, for Oxnard residents only include College Park, ‘Ololkoy (Oxnard Beach Park), and the Dog Park at 463 H Street.

In some areas, residents can also set out extra trash after Christmas. For example, residents of unincorporated areas get free collection of up to two extra 50-gallon bags on their day of collection through Jan. 8. Ojai residents may double their set-out, using tied bags adjacent to trash carts and collapsed cardboard next to their recycling, through January 8. Moorpark residents can set out up to three extra bags of trash next to their solid waste carts at no extra charge for two collection days, or two weeks after Christmas. In Ventura, residents may place two extra bags of trash next to their curbside trash cart or bagged or boxed recyclables, such as flattened cardboard, next to their recycling cart through January 6.

David Goldstein, Environmental Resource Analyst with the Ventura County Public Works Agency, may be reached at (805) 658-4312 or [email protected]

Related