The holiday season has come and gone, meaning the once-living evergreen trees sitting in a great many North Olympic Peninsula residents’ home most likely have worn out their welcome.
Not to fear, however, as Peninsula residents from Forks to Jefferson County have options for disposing of or recycling their natural Christmas trees — not the plastic ones — over the week, starting this Monday.
Jefferson County
Across Jefferson County, residents receiving curb-side recycling pickup from D.M. Disposal or Murrey’s Olympic Disposal, both Waste Connections Inc., companies, can include their Christmas trees in yard waste this coming Monday through Friday if the trees are cut into sections no larger than 4 feet and removed of all decorations, said Richard Talbot, solid-waste manager for Jefferson County.
Jefferson County residents also can haul their trees to the Port Townsend Biosolids Composting Facility at 325 Landfill Road off Jacob Miller Road just outside the city limit, Talbot said.
Residents will pay a minimum fee of $4.95 to recycle trees at the biosolids facility, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
Trees also can be disposed of as normal garbage, Talbot added, though they will not be composted.
Clallam County
In unincorporated Clallam County, residents wishing to compost their Christmas trees can haul them to the Port Angeles Regional Transfer station, 3501 W. 18th St., and pay a minimum $5 to have the trees ground up with other yard waste and eventually turned into compost, said Teresa Pierce, city spokeswoman.
The transfer station is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
Port Angeles
Christmas trees will be collected curb-side free-of-charge for Port Angeles residents this coming Monday through Friday, Pierce said.
Trees must be cleared of all decorations and bundled after being cut into 4-foot lengths.
City residents do not have to be signed up for curbside yard-waste removal to have their Christmas trees picked up as yard waste this week, Pierce said.
Sequim
Sequim residents, who receive their garbage and recycling pickup from D.M. Disposal, can include their Christmas trees as normal garbage or cut the trees down so they fit into their yard-waste bins if they are signed up for yard-waste service, a D.M. Disposal representative said Friday.
D.M. Disposal curb-side yard-waste customers will pay $4.88 if their trees do not fit in their yard-waste bins, the representative said, adding that the company is planning no special dates for Christmas tree pickup in Sequim.
Sequim residents also can haul their Christmas trees to the Lazy J Tree Farm at 225 Gehrke Road in Agnew for composting, tree farm owner Steve Johnson said Friday.
“I have the grinder. I have the ability to handle them,” Johnson said.
The tree farm will be accepting Christmas trees cleared of decoration for composting during daylight hours, roughly between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., seven days a week, Johnson said.
West End
Forks and other West End residents can visit the West Waste Recycling and Self-Hauling Transfer Station at 272 LaPush Road in Forks and drop off their Christmas trees for composting free of charge, transfer station Manager Jeramey Jaacola said Saturday.
“If they bring just a Christmas tree by itself, it’s free,” Jaacola said.
The collected trees will be mixed with other yard waste and composted at the transfer station, which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, Jaacola said.
For more information on tree pickup in Forks and other parts of the West End, West Waste customers can phone 360-374-5020.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
