LA and Long Beach kick off annual holiday tree recycling program

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Now that Christmas is over, it's time to think about recycling that tree.

Up to 100,000 trees annually are saved from ending up in a landfill, under the city's Christmas tree recycling program. The recycled trees are turned into mulch and compost to be used by residents and city staff.

There are several options for Los Angeles residents to properly dispose of Christmas trees, including using a green bin, curbside pickup or using designated drop-off locations.

To use a green bin for Christmas tree recycling, residents need to remove the decorations and stand and, if needed, cut the tree into pieces.

Residents unable to cut and place their tree in their green bin may leave it at the curb on their weekly collection day.

Drop-off locations and other information on the program can be found at www.lacitysan.org.

Long Beach residents can drop off their trees at the following locations:
-- El Dorado Park, 2760 N. Studebaker Rd., South parking lot;
-- CSULB Recycling Center, 5800 Atherton Blvd., east of Bellflower Blvd.;
-- North Police Substation, 4891 N. Atlantic Ave., at Del Amo Blvd.;
enter on 46th St.;
-- Fire Station .14, 5200 Eliot St. at Colorado Ave.;
-- City Operations Center Environmental Services Bureau, 2929 E.
Willow St.;
-- Bixby Park, First St. at Cherry Ave.;
-- Cesar E. Chavez Park, Golden Shore St. at Fourth St.;
-- Houghton Park, Myrtle Ave. at Harding St.;
-- Hudson Park, Hill St. at Webster Ave.;
-- Stearns Park, corner of 23rd St. and Roycroft Ave.;
-- Veterans Park, 28th St. at Pine Ave.;
-- Wardlow Park, Monlaco Rd. at Rutgers Ave.

Long Beach residents can also get free pick-up of trees from the city's refuse and recycling service on Saturday, January 12th. Tree must be out on the curb by 7 a.m.

CNS contributed to this story.