How to Recycle and Dispose of your 2022 Christmas Tree in London for Free
Free disposal and recycling of your 2022 xmas tree in London
Updates for 2023 Christmas/ 2024 New Year Christmas tree disposal options coming soon!
Do you live in London and want to dispose of your 2022 Christmas tree for free? You're in the right place. This blog covers all of the free Christmas tree disposal options available in London. Plus some paid alternatives and some great tips to make the process as hassle free as possible.
How to dispose of your Christmas tree for free in London?
There are three main ways to get rid of your Christmas tree:
1. Book council collection from your home
Many London councils offer their residents a free kerbside Christmas tree collection service. The exact service varies between councils. For example, some collect at the same time as the normal household general waste collection. Some only collect if you are signed up to the garden waste service. While this is the most convenient type of Christmas tree disposal, there are some boroughs that don't offer it. Keep scrolling to see whether your borough has kerbside collection.
Note - council collections don't normally apply to businesses.
2. Take it to a nearby Council drop off point
Rather than have it picked up from your home, you take it to a nearby drop off point. There is usually at least one designated drop off point for old Christmas trees in every London borough. This option is very useful if you don't fancy waiting around for kerbside collection - which only occur at fixed dates. Drop off points are located at local tips/ civic amenity sites but also at various temporary locations. The table further down has details for your borough.
3. Christmas tree retailers collect it
A few London Christmas tree sellers offer a disposal and recycling service:
- Camden Garden Centre - receives old trees for free in its car park.
- Boma Garden Centre receives old trees for free in its car park.
Also Clickmas Trees, Pines and Needles and Christmas Forest offer a collection service but this is chargeable. Prices range from £15 - £65 depending on size of tree and service required.
Council collections and drop off points by borough
| BOROUGH | KERBSIDE XMAS TREE COLLECTIONS | DROP OFF POINTS |
| Barking & Dagenham | Limited to taking the tree to the Frizlands Lane recycling centre. | Wednesday 4 January, 9 am to 3 pm in Barking Park car park (South Park Drive entrance) Thursday 5 January, 9 am to 3 pm in St Chads Park car park (West Road entrance) Saturday 7 January, 9 am to 3 pm Central Park car park (Bull Lane entrance) |
| Barnet | Christmas tree collections run throughout January 2023. Put at the boundary of your property by 13th of January. | Summers Lane recycling centre in North Finchley. |
| Bexley | Christmas trees will be collected from Monday 9 January 2023. Only for households that have signed up for the Bexley garden waste collection service. | Recycling centres at Thames Road in Crayford or Maidstone Road in Foots Cray. |
| Brent | If you are signed up for Brent garden waste service, you can cut your tree into pieces and place these in your green bin. | Reuse and Recycling Centre, Abbey Road, NW10 7TJ (closed 25-26 December and 1 January). |
| Bromley | Residents who are members of the green garden waste wheelie bin collection service can use this service to recycle their real Christmas trees. Trees must be put in the bins for recycling. | Dates TBC (Norman Park, Bromley; Salt Depot, Green Street Green; Unicorn Primary School, Beckenham; and Charles Darwin School, Biggin Hill). |
| Camden | Collection available as part of the garden waste subscription service. Christmas tree recycling points are open in the first two weeks of January 2023. Sites confirmed soon. | Drop off points. |
| Croydon | Free collection service for Christmas tree recycling from 10 January 2023 and it will be collected within a fortnight. | Take it to the Household Reuse and Recycling Centre at Factory Lane, Fishers Farm or Purley Oaks. |
| City of London | Real trees can be brought to collection points advertised on their websites and on estates just after Christmas. | Contact your Estate Office or concierge for details about where and how you can recycle your tree. |
| Ealing | Real Christmas trees will be collected for recycling between 4 and 29 January 2023 – just leave them out on your black rubbish bin day. | Greenford Reuse and Recycling centre, Greenford Road, UB6 9AP.Remember to book a slot in advance to use the centre. |
| Enfield | For subscribers of the garden waste service, leave your Christmas tree out for collection on the scheduled garden waste collection day. | Barrowell Green Recycling Centre - book an appointment. The site has limited opening times around the festive period. Other drop off locations in 2023 TBC. |
| Greenwich | Greenwich will collect Christmas Trees as part of the green bin collection service from the week of 9 January 2023. | Reuse and Recycling Centre on Nathan Way, SE28 0AF. |
| Hackney | Trees will be collected from your home from 2-13 January on your rubbish and recycling day. Put your tree out on the front boundary of your property by 6am. | Millfields Depot, dates TBC. |
| Hammersmith & Fulham | Put your Christmas tree out for collection before 7 am on your regular collection day between Monday 2 January and Friday 20 January. | Drop off points. |
| Haringey | Leave your tree next to general waste bin on collection day. | Drop off points - only available for the four weeks after Christmas |
| Harrow | Limited to taking the tree to a local recycling centre. | Harrow Recycling Centre in Wealdstone. |
| Havering | Arrange free collection through Saint Francis Hospice between Friday 6th - Monday 9th January 2023 (donations taken as "payment"). Register the tree before 8am on Tuesday 3rd Jnuary 2023.
Alternatively, take it to the Gerpins Lane tip or - if you are a garden waste service customer - leave the tree with green bin collection. |
Gerpins Lane Reuse and Recycling Centre in Upminster. |
| Hillingdon | Christmas trees can be recycled for free as part of the weekly garden waste collection service. If you live in a flat, call 01895 556000 to request a collection. | Drop off points are Harefield Civic Amenity Site and West Drayton Waste. |
| Hounslow | Leave with scheduled garden waste between Monday 9th and Friday 20th January 2023. | Drop off points. |
| Islington | If you have a street rubbish collection, leave the tree out on the normal collection date between Tuesday 3rd - Saturday 14th January 2023. | Drop off points here between Jan 2 - 17th. |
| Kensington and Chelsea | Kerbside waste collection on the normal collection date between 3rd and 21st January 2022. | Drop off points here Jan 2 - 22nd 2023. |
| Kingston Upon Thames | Christmas trees collected alongside normal rubbish/ recycling collection days between Tuesday 3rd - Friday 21st January 2023. | Drop off point at recycling centre off Villiers Road. |
| Lambeth | Collecting real Christmas trees for free from 2 January 2023. | Drop off point at recycling sites. |
| Lewisham | If you have a garden waste bin, you can use it to recycle your real Christmas tree. Just cut it into pieces no bigger than 50cm long.
Alternatively, there are 12 seasonal collection points across the borough. Locations TBC. |
Between Tuesday 27 December - Friday 3rd February, drop your Christmas tree at these sites. |
| Merton | Free collection. Or, if you subscribe to garden waste collection service, cut up and put in garden waste bin. | Drop off point at Morden Reuse and Recycling Centre. |
| Newham | Leave Christmas trees with garden waste, cut up into sizes that are easy to handle. | Drop off point at Jenkins Lane Reuse and Recycling centre in Beckton. |
| Redbridge | Place your tree at the boundary of your property by Monday 10th Jan 2023, and they will collect over a 2 week period. | Drop off point at Chigwell Road tip. |
| Richmond upon Thames | They will collect your real Christmas tree for recycling on the normal scheduled garden waste collection day for your street between 9th and 20th Jan 2022. | Between Tuesday 3rd - Friday 13th January, use the following drop-off points. |
| Southwark | If you do not receive a food or garden waste collection, email [email protected] stating your name and full address to request a real Christmas collection - then leave your Christmas tree for collection outside your property at ground floor level. Trees over 6 feet long should be cut in half. | Drop off point at Reuse and Recycling Centre on Devon Street (off old Kent Road) - must book a permit |
| Sutton | Typically they collect from mid-January onwards. | Drop off point at Kimpton Park Way, Household Reuse and Recycling Centre. |
| Tower Hamlets | There will be a collection of real Christmas trees from 9th-19th January 2023. | No drop off points. |
| Waltham Forest | Put your tree next to your brown bin from Monday 2 January onwards. | Drop off points at recycling centres in Leyton, Chingford or Walthamstow. |
| Wandsworth | Leave the Christmas tree with the usual rubbish on the morning of collection. | The Smugglers Way reuse and recycling centre. |
| Westminster | You can take your tree to a drop-off point here between 28 December 2022 and until the end of 8 January 2022. Opening hours are 8 am to 8 pm unless they are in parks, which close at 4.30 pm. |
25 recycling points here, the last day to drop off is Jan 11th 2022. |
Christmas tree removal with LoveJunk
Do you want to get rid of your tree quickly? LoveJunk Christmas Tree Removal can help!
All you have to do is take a quick photo of your tree and post it on the LoveJunk marketpplace. Local licensed waste carriers submit bids to take it away. Compare prices and ratings to choose the best offer.
The typical collection price for a single Xmas tree is £10 - £30 (depending on size and location), and the average response time is 2 minutes. All collections are undertaken by a fully licensed waste carrier who can remove from in or outside the property. Payment is online, and collection is contact-free.
Christmas Tree Disposal Tips Video
See Christmas Tree Disposal Video plus transcript here.
Top tips for Christmas tree disposal
Some of these may seem obvious, but here are some tips for disposing of your Xmas tree safely and responsibly.:
- Councils only accept the tree, so remove any pots, soil or decorations.
- Artificial trees that are beyond reuse should go to the recycling centre.
- If being collected in your garden waste bin, it is necessary to cut the tree down to size.
- In areas where you can leave your tree out to be collected with your usual rubbish, make sure it's not obstructing the pavement.
- Dumping your Christmas tree randomly on the street counts as fly-tipping and can carry a hefty fine.
Finally,
Thanks for reading! We hope you found this post useful. If you have any feedback, don't hesitate to get in touch with us at [email protected]. Or, find us on our social media @thejunklover.
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