How to Dispose of a Christmas Tree for Free
Do you live in London and want to get rid of your old Christmas tree fast?
All you have to do is take a quick photo of your tree and list it on LoveJunk. The typical collection price for a single Xmas tree is £10 - £25 (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.
However, if you have a bit more time and are looking for a cheaper solution, then the following Xmas tree disposal options are available free of charge to Londoners.
- Collection by the council
- Drop off at council tip
- Dispose with a Christmas tree seller
1. Council collection
Most London councils offer residents a kerbside Christmas tree collection service, usually on their normal bin collection day. Below are the details of each collection service by borough.
Borough | Kerbside Christmas tree collection details |
Barking & Dagenham | Limited to taking the tree to a local recycling centre. |
Barnet | Real Christmas trees will be collected throughout January 2022. |
Bexley | Real Christmas trees will be collected from Monday 10 January 2022 for households that have signed up for the Bexley garden waste collection service. |
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. |
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. |
Camden | Limited to taking the tree to local recycling centres between Monday 3 January 2022 – Friday 14 January 2022. |
Croydon | Free collection service for Christmas tree recycling from 10 January 2022 and it will be collected within a fortnight. |
City of London | Real trees can be brought to collection points advertised on their websites and on estates just after Christmas. |
Ealing | Real Christmas trees will be collected for recycling between 4 and 29 January 2022 – just leave them out on your black rubbish bin day. |
Enfield | If you have subscribed to the garden waste service, you can place your real Christmas tree out for collection on your scheduled day. |
Greenwich | Greenwich will collect Christmas Trees as part of the green bin collection service from the week of 10 January 2022. |
Hackney | Trees will be collected from your home from 3-14 January on your rubbish and recycling day. Put your tree out on the front boundary of your property by 6 am. |
Hammersmith & Fulham | Put your Christmas tree out for collection before 7 am on your regular collection day between Monday 3 January and Friday 21 January. |
Haringey | Will collect your tree for free if you have a food and/or garden waste collection - simply place it in your garden waste bin on collection day, until the end of January. |
Harrow | Limited to taking the tree to a local recycling centre. |
Havering | If you have a garden waste collection, put a chopped up tree in the collection bin on the usual collection date. |
Hillingdon | Christmas trees can be recycled for free as part of the weekly garden waste collection service. |
Hounslow | Collections from streets between 10th and 21st January 2022. |
Islington | If you have a street rubbish collection, leave the tree out on the normal collection date between 4th and 15th January 2022. |
Kensington and Chelsea | Kerbside waste collection on the normal collection date between 3rd and 21st January 2022. |
Kingston Upon Thames | Real Christmas trees will be collected from Monday 18 January 2021 for a two-week period. |
Lambeth | Collecting real Christmas trees for free from 3 January 2022. |
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. |
Merton | Put your real Christmas tree out by Monday 10th Jan and it will be collected by the end of the month. |
Newham | Garden waste collections are temporarily suspended. |
Redbridge | Place your tree at the boundary of your property by Monday 10th Jan 2021, and they will collect over a 2 week period. |
Richmond upon Thames | They will collect your real Christmas tree for recycling on the normal scheduled garden waste collection day for your street between 4th and 14th Jan 2022. |
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. |
Sutton | TBC – but typically they collect from mid-January onwards. |
Tower Hamlets | There will be a collection of real Christmas trees from 3-21 January 2022. |
Waltham Forest | If you have a kerbside organic collection, leave it next to your brown bin. |
Wandsworth | Leave the Christmas tree with the usual rubbish on the morning of collection. |
Westminster | You can take your tree to a drop-off point here between Tuesday 28 December 2021 and until the end of day Tuesday 11 January 2022. Opening hours are 8 am to 8 pm unless they are in parks, which close at 4.30 pm |
Note - if you are a business, council collections normally don’t apply to you and you’ll have to arrange your own disposal method.
2. Take to Council drop off point
If your council doesn’t offer a curbside collection service or you don’t fancy waiting for your council to pick up your Christmas tree, you can take it to a council drop off point yourself. Drop off points are located at your local tip / civic amenity site and also at various temporary locations listed below.
Borough | Drop off points |
Barking & Dagenham | Wednesday 5 January, 9 am to 3 pm in Barking Park car park (South Park Drive entrance) Thursday 6 January, 9 am to 3 pm in St Chads Park car park (West Road entrance) Saturday 8 January, 9 am to 3 pm Central Park car park (Bull Lane entrance) |
Barnet | Summers Lane recycling centre in North Finchley. |
Bexley | Recycling centres at Thames Road in Crayford or Maidstone Road in Foots Cray. |
Brent | Reuse and Recycling Centre, Abbey Road, NW10 7TJ (closed 25-26 December and 1 January). |
Bromley | Weekend of Saturday 8 (Norman Park, Bromley, and Salt Depot, Green Street Green) and Sunday, 9 January 2022 (Unicorn Primary School, Beckenham, and Charles Darwin School, Biggin Hill). |
Camden | Drop off points. |
Croydon | Take it to the Household Reuse and Recycling Centre at Factory Lane, Fishers Farm or Purley Oaks. |
City of London | Contact your Estate Office or concierge for details about where and how you can recycle your tree. |
Ealing | Greenford Reuse and recycling centre, Greenford Road, UB6 9AP |
Enfield | Drop off points. |
Greenwich | Reuse and Recycling Centre in Nathan Way. |
Hackney | Millfields Depot between 4 and 30 January 2022. |
Hammersmith & Fulham | Drop off points. |
Haringey | Drop off points - only available for the four weeks after Christmas |
Harrow | Harrow Recycling Centre in Wealdstone. |
Havering | Gerpins Lane Reuse and Recycling Centre in Upminster. |
Hillingdon | Drop off points are Harefield Civic Amenity Site and West Drayton Waste. |
Hounslow | Drop off points. |
Islington | Drop off points here between Jan 4 - 15th. |
Kensington and Chelsea | Drop off points here Sunday 2 and Sunday 23 January 2022. |
Kingston Upon Thames | Drop off point at recycling centre off Villiers Road. |
Lambeth | Drop off point at recycling sites. |
Lewisham | Drop off points here. |
Merton | Drop off point at Morden Reuse and Recycling Centre. |
Newham | Drop off point at Jenkins Lane Reuse and Recycling centre in Beckton. |
Redbridge | Drop off point at Chigwell Road tip. |
Richmond upon Thames | Drop off points here. |
Southwark | Drop off point at Reuse and Recycling Centre on Devon Street (off old Kent Road) - must book a permit |
Sutton | Drop off point at Kimpton Park Way, Household Reuse and Recycling Centre. |
Tower Hamlets | No drop off points. |
Waltham Forest | Drop off points at recycling centres in Leyton, Chingford or Walthamstow. |
Wandsworth | The Smugglers Way reuse and recycling centre. |
Westminster | 25 recycling points here, the last day to drop off is Jan 11th 2022. |
3. Disposal at Christmas tree retailers
A few London Christmas tree sellers offer a disposal and recycling service:
- Camden Garden Centre - receives old trees for free in its car park from 2nd-10th Jan
- Boma Garden Centre receives old trees for free in its car park from 2nd - 16th Jan
- Clickmas Trees - will collect an old tree for £12.50 from 1st - 10th Jan
For completeness, we have included the biggest Christmas tree retailer, Pines & Needles, but as you can see their rates are expensive, so we doubt you’ll be using them...
- Pines and Needles (and The Christmas Forest) offer a collection service. Prices start at £30.95 and go up to £65
And lastly...
Here are some useful tips for safe and responsible Christmas Tree disposal:
- Councils only accept the tree, so remove any pots, soil or decorations.
- Artificial trees should go to the tip.
- 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