The holiday season is over, but the work has just begun for environmental services employees from the cities of Thornton and Northglenn.

As families work to take down their Christmas decorations and welcome in the New Year, these employees are beginning to collect and sort natural trees as a part of each city’s annual Christmas tree recycling program.

Northglenn Solid Waste Foreman Keith Kovach said the city officially kicked of this year’s recycling program on Dec. 26 and is currently accepting Christmas trees at the Green Waste Recycling Center, 12301 Claude Court, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Friday.

To provide more options than in previous years, Kovach said residents with valid proof of residency identification, such as a water bill, may also bring their trees to two city locations: Northwest Open Space by the city’s water treatment plant, at West 112th Avenue and Ranch Drive, and Jaycee Park, located at Leroy Drive and Irma Drive.

Kovach said the city will also accept disassembled trees placed in polycarts on residential city curbs.

In all, Kovach estimates that Northglenn collected about 400 trees last year, which were later shredded and provided to residents, city parks and neighboring cities as mulch.

“We started this program about 10 or 11 years ago to just keep the trees out of the landfill by reducing the stuff going there,” Kovach said. “It works out pretty well because it makes free mulch for the residents here in Northglenn, plus we give it to Westminster, Broomfield and whoever wants to use it.”

Thornton Environmental Services Supervisor Howard McGee said the city has a similar program in place and will accept natural Christmas trees from Thornton residents from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at the city’s maintenance center at 12450 Washington St.

McGee also said natural Christmas trees will be collected from residential curb sides through Friday for city trash customers only on regular trash collections days. 

In all, McGee said the city’s Christmas tree recycling program collected a total of 1,815 trees last year that were later shredded and turned into mulch.

For more information about Thornton’s Christmas tree recycling program, e-mail the city’s Environmental Services division at environmentalsvcs@cityofthornton.net or call 720-977-6200. For more information about Northglenn’s Christmas tree recycling program, call 303-450-4004 between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.