December 22, 1999

Contact:
Bill Smith (206) 296-4407

King County makes tree-cycling easy

King County residents can recycle their Christmas trees and help the environment this holiday season by taking advantage of the King County Department of Natural Resources Solid Waste Division's free Christmas tree-recycling program. Last year, county residents recycled more than 60,000 trees. Tree-cycling is made convenient with the assistance of the county's Tree-Cycling Partners and 11 drop-off sites. The county's tree-cycling partners are: Sears (Redmond), Rainier Wood Recyclers (Covington and Fall City), Federal Way National Little League (Federal Way) and the Highline School District (Boulevard Park School).

Trees collected through this program will be chipped and made into compost for landscaping projects, giving new life to other plants and reducing the amount of waste going to the King County Cedar Hills Regional Landfill.

The tree-cycling program offers several ways to recycle Christmas trees at no charge:

• Curbside. Some residents may be able to recycle their tree with normal curbside yard waste. Residents should contact their hauler for details and restrictions.
• Community groups. A number of community groups sponsor tree-cycling collection. Residents should watch for flyers announcing the service.
• Drop sites. Residents can drop off their tree at one of 11 King County sites free-of-charge on the three weekends following Christmas--December 26 and 27, 1999, January 2 and 3 and January 7-10, 2000. The drop sites will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Below is a list of locations:
  
  

  First Northeast Transfer Station	2300 North 165th Street (Shoreline)
  Factoria Property	13260 Eastgate Way (Bellevue)
  Renton Transfer Station	3021 NE Fourth Street (Renton)
  Cedar Falls Dropbox	16925 Cedar Falls Road Southeast (North Bend)
  Enumclaw Transfer Station	1650 Battersby Avenue East (Enumclaw)
  Vashon Island Transfer Station	18910 Westside Highway Southwest(Vashon Island)
  Sears Parking Lot *	2200 148th NE (Redmond)
  Rainier Wood Recyclers *	27529 Covington Way Southeast (Covington)
  Federal Wy National Little League*	SW Campus Dr. (next to King Cty Aquatic Center)
  Rainier Wood Recyclers*	33216 Redmond-Fall City Road-Fall City
  Boulevard Park School*	12833 20th Avenue South (S 128th St. and 20th Avenue South)

The County's tree-cycling program applies to Christmas trees only. Normal transfer station fees will be charged for loads that have other waste mixed in with Christmas trees. To be accepted for recycling, trees must meet the following criteria:

• No artificial, fire-proofed, or flocked trees
• Remove hooks, ornaments, tinsel, and stands.
• Tree base must be four inches or less in diameter
• Tree must be cut in sections of eight feet or less.

The King County Tree-Cycling Program is sponsored by the King County Department of Natural Resources Solid Waste Division with assistance from our Tree-Cycling Partners. For more information, call the King County Solid Waste Division at 296-4466 (Voice) or 1- 800- 833-6388 (TTY).

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