EVERY year, councils across Scotland offer guidance on how to properly recycle real Christmas trees to help reduce their environmental impact.
In the UK, around eight million trees are cut down for the holiday season, with half a million purchased in Scotland alone. This results in 16,000 tonnes of waste that ends up in landfills.
Simply leaving a tree to rot in the garden is not a solution. According to the Carbon Trust, a six-foot Christmas tree has a carbon footprint of 16kg of CO2 when disposed of in a landfill.
In landfills, trees release methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
However, Christmas trees are biodegradable, and recycling them can significantly reduce their environmental impact. When properly recycled, trees can be transformed into compost, which enriches the soil and supports local ecosystems.
What to do with my tree when Christmas is over?
When tinsel is removed from Christmas trees, each council will collect the tree for proper disposal.
The following pieces of advice are for recycling real trees only. Artificial Christmas trees cannot be recycled and should be disposed of in the general waste skip at a recycling centre.
Aberdeen City – Trees can be placed next to the brown bin for collection between January 6 to 17.
Aberdeenshire – Trees will be collected with the brown bins between January 6 and 17. Residents are asked to put their trees next to their brown bins.
Angus – Trees can be brought to a recycling centre or cut into pieces to be placed inside the green garden waste bin.
Arran – Trees are recyclable at Brodick Household Waste Recycling Centre.
Clackmannanshire – Christmas trees can be taken to Forthbank for composting as the council does not provide a kerbside collection.
Dumfries and Galloway – The trees can be taken to a recycling centre to be composted. Otherwise, the trees can be put out for collection with householders' grey-lidded rubbish bins until January 31.
Dundee – Trees can be uplifted for free or can be brought to a recycling centre for compost.
East Ayrshire – Trees can be brought to the closest recycling centre or can also be uplifted on the first brown bin collection after Christmas.
Edinburgh – Christmas trees need to be cut in half and placed next to the brown garden bin in January.
Glasgow – Trees can be placed in the brown bin for kerbside collection or taken to the recycling centre. Trees can also be taken for recycling at Kelvingrove Park, Kelvin Way, Pollok Country Park or Mansfield Park.
North Ayrshire – Christmas trees, cut in sections of five feet or less, will be collected with the brown bin collection starting January 13.
South Ayrshire – Trees can be cut and put into the brown bin for recycling, and arrangements can be made for a free winter brown bin collection.
East Dunbartonshire – Skips will be available from January 3 to 12 at the William Patrick Library car park in Kirkintilloch, Mavis Valley Recycling Centre in Bishopbriggs, and the Milngavie Community Education Centre for tree disposal.
West Dunbartonshire – Real Christmas trees can be disposed of at either Dalmoak or Erskine Ferry Road Recycling Centre. They will not be picked up from the kerbside or brown garden waste bins.
East Lothian – Real Christmas trees can be composted by taking them to a recycling centre or if you have a collection permit by presenting them beside your permitted brown bin on garden waste collection dates in January.
East Renfrewshire – For those with a garden waste permit, trees that are cut into pieces will be collected free of charge. Trees will not be collected from the pavement. For those without a permit who wish to have their tree collected, a fee of £15.65 will apply.
Otherwise, a free chipping service is in place at Cowan Park in Barrhead and Rouken Glen in Giffnock or trees can be brought to recycling centres.
Fife – Trees can be recycled for free by cutting them into pieces and placing them in the brown bin, or by leaving them beside the bin in lengths no longer than 6 feet.
Falkirk – Trees can be placed in the brown garden waste bin if cut into sections, or they can be taken to the Roughmute or Kinneil Kerse Household Waste Recycling Centre.
Highland – Trees can be brought to the recycling centre for compost.
Moray – Trees can be brought to the recycling centre for compost or put into the kerbside recycling bin.
Midlothian – Trees can be brought to the garden skip at a local recycling centre or can be collected as part of the brown bin collection (service restarting in March 2025).
North Lanarkshire – Trees can be brought to the recycling centre but they will not be collected if disposed next to wheeled bins. The council put in place a service to book a special uplift online 24/7 on their website.
South Lanarkshire – Real Christmas trees can be recycled at recycling centres, or if cut into 5-foot sections and tied together, they can be collected with the regular burgundy bin collection between January 6 and 17.
Scottish Borders - Trees can be brought to a community recycling centre and placed in the garden waste skip.
Orkney – Trees can be taken to the green waste skips at Hatston, Garson, Bossack, Cursiter and St Margarets Hope household waste and/or recycling facilities. The trees will then be transformed into soil improver-free for residents to collect from Bossack, Hatston and Garson. Otherwise, the council also asks for people to keep an eye on Facebook groups in their area for farmers with livestock who might be looking to cut trees for their animals to nibble on.
Perth and Kinross – Trees can be chopped up and added to the home compost bin or chopped up and placed in your brown-lidded bin. Otherwise, trees can be taken to your local recycling centre.
Argyll and Bute, West Lothian, Inverclyde and Shetlands Councils have yet to put their rules on their website.
