The Knox County Solid Waste Office, in partnership with Keep Knoxville Beautiful, will again hold Christmas Tree-cycling the first Saturday following New Year's Day, which this year is January 3rd. This provides an opportunity for area residents to dispose of their tree, and to take home fresh evergreen mulch if they choose courtesy of Wolf Tree.

This is the 18th year this free event has been held. Trees may be dropped off at no charge between the hours of 9:00 a.m and 3:00 p.m. at the following locations:

Solway Greenwaste facility at 8707 Joe Daniels Road
Halls Recycling and Convenience Center at 3608 Neal Road
Forks of the River Greenwaste Facility at 3106 Water Plant Road (Note that the free evergreen mulch generated from collected trees will only be available at Halls and Solway since Forks of the River will not grind their trees that day.)

Trees must be cleaned of all ornaments, lights, wire, string or anything else that might jam or damage the chipping machines. Although trees may be dropped off before the 3rd, the free mulch is only available the day of the event.

Greenwaste, consisting of leaves, brush, logs, tree branches, grass, etc., typically makes up 20-30% of the total municipal solid waste stream. By recycling the Christmas trees, Knox County hopes to raise awareness about the advantage of keeping this type of material out of area landfills, and instead utilizing it to produce mulch and other beneficial soil amendments which can be returned to the landscape.

For questions regarding Tree-cycling call Knox County Solid Waste at 215-JUNK (5865).