During this jolly, gift-giving season, don’t forget to give back to the planet. When you’re ready to get rid of your Christmas trees and have tons of wrapping paper to toss, it’s important to know the right places to recycle or throw them out.
The day after Christmas is usually the busiest day of the year for recycling facilities, as people rush to get rid of trash from the holidays.
From tree recycling initiatives to donation centers that take glass string lights, learn what you need to know to keep our planet green and give specific items a second chance at life.
How to recycle live trees, by county
Wake County
Wake County encourages residents to embrace the spirit of giving after Christmas by donating undecorated live trees to the Happy Trails Christmas Tree Recycling Program, which runs from Dec. 26 until Jan. 31, 2026. The program will turn the trees into mulch.
“The Happy Trails Program is a win-win for everyone,” said a Wake County commissioner. “Through this program, residents can dispose of their trees for free, reduce landfill waste and help improve the county’s parks. It’s also a way for residents to give back to the community, either by donating or volunteering.”
The county has several drop-off sites at convenience centers and parks where you can recycle your real trees with all decorations—including tinsel—removed.
The following Wake County solid waste convenience centers are open for tree drop-offs from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week:
- Site 1 – 10505 Old Stage Road, Garner
- Site 2 – 6120 Old Smithfield Road, Apex
- Site 4 – 3600 Yates Mill Pond Road, Raleigh
- Site 11 – 5051 Wendell Blvd./US-64 Business, Wendell
Additionally, the following Wake County parks will accept trees from 8 a.m. to sunset, seven days a week:
- Green Hills County Park – 9300 Deponie Drive, Raleigh
- Blue Jay Point County Park – 3200 Pleasant Union Church Road, Raleigh
- Harris Lake County Park – 2112 County Park Drive, New Hill
- Lake Crabtree County Park – 1400 Aviation Parkway, Morrisville
- Beech Bluff County Park – 3321 NC Highway 42, Willow Spring
Durham County
Durham County and the city offer numerous ways for residents to dispose of live trees at no charge, starting at the beginning of January. Note that curbside collection is only available to yard waste and exempt customers.
Keep in mind these specific disposal instructions that you must abide by for drop-off and curbside:
- Trees must be cut in half if taller than six feet.
- All decorations and hardware should be removed.
- Trees must not be inside bags.
Free curbside collections for yard waste and exempt service customers only will take place from Jan. 2 through Feb. 2. Customers should place their trees at the curb on their normal collection day, and there’s no need to make a service request.
If you’d rather do a drop-off, live trees will be accepted at the city’s waste disposal and recycling center, located at 2115 E. Club Blvd.
- Starts Monday, Jan. 5 through Saturday, Feb. 7
You can also drop off trees from 8 a.m. to noon on Jan. 3, 10, 17 and 24 at the following locations:
- The Home Depot: 3701 Mt. Moriah Rd and 1700 N. Pointe Dr.
- Lowe’s Home Improvement: 117 William Penn Plaza and 4402 Fayetteville Rd.
Orange County
Orange County residents can bring up to 120 cubic feet per day or a weekend of yard waste to Waste and Recycling Centers (except Bradshaw Quarry). Tree trunks must be 12 inches in diameter or less.
If you live in a single-family residence within the towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill or Hillsborough, you can contact your Public Works Department to find out how they collect your yard waste from the curb.
You can take your live trees to the following centers:
- Walnut Grove Church Rd. Waste & Recycling Center: 3605 Walnut Grove Church Road, Hillsborough
- Ferguson Rd. Waste & Recycling Center: 1616 Ferguson Road, Chapel Hill
- Orange County Disposal Center (Landfill): 1514 Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill
- Eubanks Rd Waste & Recycling Center: 1518 Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill
- High Rock Rd. Waste & Recycling Center: 7001 High Rock Road, Efland
How to recycle artificial trees and decorations, by county
Not everything can be recycled, however. Here’s what you can and can’t recycle in different counties.
Wake County
Yes: Cardboard boxes, clothing and shoes, holiday cards, light strings (placed in scrap metal containers), paper boxes and tubes, wrapping paper (with no foil)
In Wake County, corrugated cardboard, such as Amazon boxes, is fine to recycle in cardboard areas, but shiny gift boxes and cardstock need to go into the mixed recycling.
No: Foil, metallic or glittery wrapping paper, tissue paper, ribbon, bows, plastic gift bags
Bows and ribbons can get tangled up in the machines that process the recycling, and have to be picked out of the recycling mix by workers. It’s better to separate them to use again for another celebration.
Durham County
If you have an artificial Christmas tree that you don’t want to keep for next year, consider donating it to thrift stores that will take them, as someone else could use it.
If your tree is not in the right condition to give to someone else, Durham County accepts them for bulk waste collection.
One collection per week of up to three bulky items is free of charge. Request a bulky item service in the Durham Rollout App, or here: https://durhamnc.gov/bulky or by calling 919-560-1200.
The same goes for Christmas decorations like ornaments, tinsel or wreaths. Donate when you can, and when you can’t, put them in your garbage during your scheduled collection day.
Orange County
Donate your artificial trees to local thrift stores or, in Orange County, to reuse centers at the listed locations above or the Orange County Salvage Sheds, all of which are located at Waste and Recycling Centers (except Bradshaw Quarry).
Again, tinsel, lights, decorations, tree stands and plastic bags from trees should be removed prior to disposal. String lights can be dropped off at the above listed Waste and Recycling Centers.
The same goes for Christmas decorations: Donate when you can, and when you can’t, put them in your garbage during your scheduled collection day.
Trash schedules
Wake County:
- Tuesday, Dec. 23: Solid waste convenience centers, multi-material hazardous waste centers, and South Wake Landfill are OPEN.
- Wednesday, Dec. 24: Solid waste convenience centers and multi-material hazardous waste centers CLOSE AT NOON. The South Wake Landfill CLOSES AT 1 P.M..
- Thursday, Dec. 25: Solid waste convenience centers, multi-material hazardous waste centers, and South Wake Landfill are CLOSED.
- Friday, Dec. 26: Solid waste convenience centers, multi-material hazardous waste centers, and South Wake Landfill are OPEN.
- Wednesday, Dec. 31: Solid waste convenience centers, multi-material hazardous waste centers, and South Wake Landfill are OPEN.
- Thursday, Jan. 1: Solid waste convenience centers, multi-material hazardous waste centers, and South Wake Landfill are CLOSED.
Durham County:
Customers with a Thursday, Dec. 25 pickup will have their collection on Saturday, Dec. 27 instead.
Customers with pickup scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 1, will have their pickup on Saturday, Jan. 3.
For City of Durham residents, Thursday customers will get receive collections on Friday, Dec. 26. These customers will also receive collections on Friday, Jan. 2 for their pickups scheduled on New Year’s Day (Jan. 1).
The Waste Disposal and Recycling Center, Yard Waste Facility and Household Hazardous Waste Center (WDRC) will close at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec, 24.
The WDRC will be closed on Thursday, Dec. 25, and Thursday, Jan. 1.
The WDRC will operate normal hours on Friday, Dec. 26, and Friday, Jan. 2.
Orange County:
Curbside recycling runs as normally scheduled, and waste centers and landfills in Orange County are open except where noted below:
- Wednesday, Dec. 24: Regular recycling collection; Waste & Recycling Centers CLOSED; Landfill CLOSED
- Thursday, Dec. 25: No collection – this recycling will be collected Friday, Dec. 26; Waste & Recycling Centers CLOSED; Landfill CLOSED
- Friday, Dec. 26: This recycling will be collected on Saturday, Dec. 27; Waste & Recycling Centers OPEN; Landfill OPEN
- Thursday, Jan. 1: No collection – For the remainder of the week, recycling collection will be delayed by one day; Waste & Recycling Centers CLOSED; Landfill CLOSED
For Carrboro residents:
- Wednesday (Dec. 24) will be collected Monday, Dec. 22
- Thursday (Dec. 25) will be collected Tuesday, Dec. 23
- Friday (Dec. 26) will be collected Monday, Dec. 29
- Thursday (Jan. 1) will collected Friday, Jan. 2
- Friday (Jan. 2) will collected Monday, Jan. 5
For Chapel Hill residents:
- For Dec. 24-26: Residential trash collection will occur as usual.
- Commercial trash will not be collected Thursday (Dec. 25) and Friday (Dec. 26).
- No yard trimmings collection Thursday, Dec. 25, and Friday, Dec. 26.
- For Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day: Residential trash collection will occur as usual.
- Commercial trash will not be collected Thursday, Jan 1.
- No yard trimmings collection Thursday, Jan. 1.
Check your town’s and county’s websites for full, individual details as to when curbside collections change for the holidays.
