The City of San Diego today kicked off the 44th annual Christmas tree recycling program, which runs through Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. This popular recycling program offers16 drop-off locations, available to city residents only, as well as curbside pickup service for customers with curbside yard waste collection containers.
“We’re encouraging all local residents to give Christmas trees a second life by recycling them,” said Mario X. Sierra, director of the City’s Environmental Services Department.
San Diego residents can recycle their Christmas trees seven days a week (except select holidays) for free at the Miramar Greenery located at the Miramar Landfill, 5180 Convoy St. City residents can also drop off clean trees at no cost during daylight hours at any of the City’s 16 drop-off locations listed below.
Only clean trees are accepted at City recycling locations. Before depositing trees, residents must remove all tree stands, lights, ornaments, tinsel, and non-recyclable materials. Please donot illegally dump any other items at the drop-off locations.
In addition to clean trees, flocked (fake snow-covered) trees are also accepted. All trees will be recycled into high quality mulch and compost. City residents can self-load mulch and up totwo cubic yards of compost for free at the Miramar Greenery throughout the year.
Hours of operation for the Miramar Greenery are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Sunday and most holidays. The landfill is closed on New Year’s Day.
City curbside yard waste recycling customers can also recycle trees by placing them at the curb with the regular yard waste recycling. Customers with automated greenery containers must cut up their clean trees into pieces of about 3-feet and place them inside the container. Such customers who are unable to cut their trees for manual collection or who cannot fit the tree into an automated container should recycle their tree at any of the City’s drop-off locations. All non-recyclable materials must be removed before placing trees inside an automated binor at the curb next to yard waste collection containers.
The following is a complete list of the City’s 16 drop-off locations:
Carmel Valley ……………………………. Carmel Valley Recreation Center,
3777 Townsgate Drive (lower parking lot)
Encanto ……………………………………… Cielo Drive at Woodman Street
Golden Hill ………………………………… Golden Hill Recreation Center,
2600 Golf Course Drive
La Jolla ………………………………………. Kate Sessions Park, 5115 Mount Soledad Road
Logan Heights …………………………… Memorial Recreation Center, 2902 Marcy Ave.
Miramar ……………………………………. Miramar Landfill and Greenery Recycling,
5180 Convoy St. (north of State Route 52)
Mission Bay ………………………………. Sea World Drive at Pacific Highway
Oak Park …………………………………….Chollas Lake, 6350 College Grove Drive
(Gloria’s Mesa parking lot)
Ocean Beach …………………………….. Robb Field Recreation Center, 2525 Bacon St.
Otay Mesa/Nestor ……………………. Montgomery Waller Community Park
(lower parking lot on the southeast corner of
Palm Avenue and Beyer Boulevard)
Rancho Bernardo ……………………… Rancho Bernardo Recreation Center,
18448 West Bernardo Drive
Rancho Peñasquitos ………………… Canyonside Recreation Center,
12350 Black Mountain Road
SDSU ………………………………………….. Parking Lot 17C off Alvarado Road  
Scripps Ranch ……………………………. Scripps Ranch Recreation Center,
11454 Blue Cypress Drive
Tierrasanta ……………………………….. De Portola Middle School,
11010 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
University City ………………………….. Swanson Pool, 3585 Governor Drive
Trees from commercial tree lots or fundraising projects are not accepted at the 16 City drop-off locations. However, commercial trees can be dropped off from now until Jan. 23 at theMiramar Greenery for a nominal fee.
The City is teaming up with the local nonprofit I Love a Clean San Diego to help county residents find a drop-off site for their Christmas trees after the holidays are over. For county residents looking for a drop-off location, visit the County of San Diego’s website at www.WasteFreeSD.org.
Información adicional sobre el Programa de Reciclaje de Árboles de Navidad de la Ciudad está disponible visitando www.recyclingworks.com o llamando al Departamento de Servicios Ambientales al 858-694-7000. Para obtener información sobre mantillo y compost producidos en Miramar Greenery, llame al vertedero de Miramar al 858-492-6100.