Wondering what to do with those old or broken holiday decorations once the holiday is over?

SEE WRAPPING & PACKAGING TIPS HERE

Most holiday decorations cannot go in your recycling cart, but some communities offer recycling drop-offs. Check your local city or community recycling center to see if they will take them, and see some string light and live tree recycling resources below. 

String light recycling

Do not put unwanted or broken string lights in your recycling bin. They must be taken to specific locations for special electronics handling.

• Austin Recycling and Reuse Drop-Off Center (by appointment only)
• City of Georgetown (November 27–January 31) Four special holiday recycling drop-off stations are set up for residents.
• City of Round Rock Drop-offs at the Round Rock Recycling Center, Public Library, Baca Center and Utilities & Environmental Services during normal business hours.
• City of Houston Holiday Light Recycling Drop-Off locations include city recycling centers and the Houston Zoo (until January 7th), plus nine locations across Houston.
• United Electronic Recycling Drop-offs in Coppell/DFW & Saturday drop-off events in Plano.
• Check your local Lowe's or Home Depot

* Unfortunately, the Christmas Light Source has ended their string light recycling program.

See more Holiday Light Tips on TCEQ's Take Care of Texas blog!

Live Christmas tree recycling

Remove decorations, tinsel, lights and stands. Trees sprayed with flocking (artificial snow) are not accepted and should be taken to a specialized facility that can handle these chemicals.

• Travis County: (December 26 – January 10) Travis County has five FREE Christmas tree recycling drop-off locations for Travis County residents.

• City of Austin: Curbside customers can recycle their all-natural holiday trees, wreaths and garlands by leaving them at the curb on their composting collection day; or drop off at Zilker Park (10am to 2pm on Saturday, December 30, 2023; Saturday, January 6, 2024; Sunday, January 7, 2024). Find a list of other drop-off locations on their website.

• City of Georgetown: (January 2-January 31) Residents may drop-off trees or curbside on the first recycling day of the month.

• City of Round Rock: Round Rock Recycling Center will take drop-offs during regular business hours, plus will host two special tree recycling events on Saturdays, Dec. 30th and Jan. 6th, 9am-6pm.

• City of San Marcos: (December 26 – January 31) Residents can drop off their unflocked Christmas trees, holly, pumpkins, and other living decorations at six TDS locations (free).  For cities with TDS Green Waste Service, TDS offers curbside pick-up of unflocked Christmas trees.

• City of Denton: Denton's Solid Waste & Recycling has curbside pickup with regular yard waste collection.

• City of Fort Worth: Curbside pickup on customer's regular yard waste day. See their holiday flyer for a complete list of which holiday items are recyclable, and which are not.

• City of Dallas: (December 26 – February 3) Trees can be dropped off for recycling at 2 locations, or placed curbside during monthly brush and bulky pickup (those will not be recycled).

• City of Houston: (December 26 – January 26) Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department will have 23 Christmas Tree recycling drop-off locations open. Christmas tree recycling is also available through the city's yard waste curbside collection program. 
• • Houston 33rd Annual Treecycling event: (Friday, January 5, 11:30am) Join Mayor John Whitmire, Council Members, SWMD, and representatives from Reliant Energy, Living Earth, and the Houston Parks & Recreation Department at Houston City Hall’s reflection pool to bring down and mulch the City's Holiday Tree.