Guide for Reuse, Repair, Recycling, and Safe Disposal
for Alameda County, Contra Costa County, and the City of Palo Alto

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Christmas Trees

Christmas trees are real, cut trees without flocking (fake snow).

Consider renting a living tree for the season, or planting it in your yard after the holidays to avoid waste. Cut, live Christmas trees (conifers) must be stripped of all decorations, lights, stand, tinsel, and un-bagged to be mulched and composted. Some cities need the tree cut to fit into the Green/Organics Bin. Flocked trees must be cut to fit in your Garbage Cart, as the flocking material make them unacceptable for composting. Check with your curbside service provider for details and dates for pick-up for residents and businesses.

Reuse or donate good condition holiday and seasonal items, artificial Christmas trees, string lights (working/non-working), gift wrap (paper gift wrap, metallic gift wrap) and tissue paper.

Vendors

Vendor Address City Destination Disposal Method Notes
Berkeley Transfer Station 1201 2nd St. Berkeley Compost Free Drop-off Check CityofBerkeley.info for updates on free holiday drop-off timeframe for residents. All lights, decorations, tinsel, plastic bags, and plastic tree stands must be removed for composting. Outside of designated holiday drop-off, paid drop-off for composting. Flocked trees are not compostable and can be landfilled for a fee.
Fremont Recycling & Transfer Station 41149 Boyce Rd. Fremont Compost Drop-off for a Fee Deposit plant debris, food scraps & food-soiled paper in the facility’s designated “clean green” area.
Acme Landfill (Fill Corporation) 950 Waterbird Way Martinez Compost Drop-off for a Fee
Waste Management of Alameda County 172 98th Ave. Oakland Compost Pick-up for a Fee Commercial waste hauling service
Commercial Waste & Recycling - C&D, Inerts & landscape yard 725 Independent Road Oakland Compost Drop-off for a Fee No flocking, no ornaments. Only the tree or wreath material.
GreenWaste of Palo Alto 2765 Lafayette St Palo Alto Compost Pick-up for a Fee Trees will be collected on regularly scheduled collection days for the 4 weeks following Christmas day. Cut trees in 4-foot lengths and remove tree stands, all ornamentation, tinsel, and nails. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
Pleasanton Transfer Station 3110 Busch Rd. Pleasanton Compost Free Drop-off Separate for organics drop-off
West Contra Costa Sanitary Landfill Organics Processing Facility Foot of Parr Blvd. Richmond Compost Drop-off for a Fee
Davis Street (WM) Resource Recovery Complex (Transfer Station) 2615 Davis St. San Leandro Compost Drop-off for a Fee Public green waste drop-off area

Curbside Service

Special Action Note
Alameda
Trees (un-bagged & less than 6ft tall) will be collected curbside on regularly scheduled collection days for 4 weeks starting from Dec 26 - Jan 31. Trees may be cut to fit inside Organics cart/bin; lid must close. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights or tree will not be able to be composted. Flocked trees will be collected and landfilled. Broken artificial trees belong in the garbage bin and are not collected curbside. (Note: Special trucks will collect trees at times different than regular collection services.)
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Albany
Trees will be collected on regularly scheduled collection days throughout the month of January every year. Trees taller than 6 feet must be cut into lengths of 6 feet or smaller. Remove all décor, tinsel, tree stands, nails, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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Berkeley
Remove all lights, decorations, tinsel, plastic bags and plastic tree stands. Cut tree to fit inside Green/Organics cart with the lid closed (i.e. less than 3' in length) or bring your tree to the City's Transfer Station at no charge in January. Flocked live trees and plastic trees cannot be composted, and must be placed in garbage or brought to the Transfer Station for disposal (fee). (Note: Curbside tree collection damages our collection trucks which is why trees left on the curb will not get picked up.)
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Castro Valley Sanitary District
Trees are collected curbside for the first 2 weeks of January (starting the first Monday) on regular pickup day for composting. Trees may be cut to fit in Compost cart or bin. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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Dublin
Residents. See hauler website for timing of whole tree from curb next to carts. Trees may be cut to fit in cart or bin. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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Emeryville
Set your tree on your day of collection during the month of January. Trees taller than 6 feet must be cut into lengths of 6 feet or smaller. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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Fremont
Free curbside collection for two weeks following Christmas week. Or drop off at Republic Services at 42600 Boyce Road during this time. Trees may be cut to fit in cart or bin. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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Hayward
Trees are collected curbside during the first two weeks of January, on your regular pickup day. Trees may be cut to fit in cart or bin afterwards, or picked up curbside for a fee. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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Hayward (Oro Loma - L2)
See hauler website for timing of whole tree from curb next to carts. Trees may be cut to fit in cart or bin. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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Livermore
Single-Family Homes: Livermore Sanitation will collect trees on your regular service day during the first two FULL weeks of January (January 2-13, 2023). Please remove the stand, all lights, decorations, and bags. Tall trees should be cut into pieces no longer than five feet. Please place your tree at the curb by 6 am. Flocked trees belong in the garbage. Commercial Customers: We will collect large holiday trees from our commercial customers. Contact hauler for pricing. Multi-Family Customers: LSI will pick up trees from designated areas January 11-13, 2023. Multi-family building owners and managers please contact us before January 5, 2022 to designate a drop off area and to schedule a pickup. See Holiday Link for more information.
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Newark
See hauler website for timing of whole tree from curb next to carts. Trees may be cut to fit in cart or bin. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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Oakland
Compost (WM, Inc.): Place curbside the first work day after December 25th through the end of the second work week in January. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. 3rd week of Jan & after: Trees taller than 6 feet must be cut into lengths of 6 feet or smaller for green cart collection. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees go to the landfill/garbage cart.
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Piedmont
See hauler website for timing of whole tree from curb next to carts. Trees may be cut to fit in cart or bin. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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Pleasanton
See hauler website for timing of whole tree from curb next to carts. Trees may be cut to fit in cart or bin. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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San Leandro
Trees will be collected on regularly scheduled collection days for 4 weeks starting from December 26 (ending on a Friday). Trees may be cut to fit in cart or bin. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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San Leandro (Oro Loma - L3)
See hauler website for timing of whole tree from curb next to carts. Trees may be cut to fit in cart or bin. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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San Lorenzo (Oro Loma)
See hauler website for timing of whole tree from curb next to carts. Trees may be cut to fit in cart or bin. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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Unincorporated Oro Loma (L1)
See hauler website for timing of whole tree from curb next to carts. Trees may be cut to fit in cart or bin. Remove all décor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Flocked trees belong in the garbage.
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Union City
Tri-CED collects Holiday Trees curbside from single-family residents on regularly scheduled collection service days from December 26 through January 31. Trees may be cut to fit in the compost cart. Remove all decor, tinsel, stands, and lights. Natural Trees only; flocked and artificial Trees will not be collected as part of the compost program. Residents may also drop off Holiday Trees at Tri-CED at no additional cost Tues-Sat 9:00am-4:30pm between December 26 through January 31.
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