Huntsville, Madison and Madison County ready to roll out ‘Operation Christmas Clean Up’

HUNTSVILLE – To help keep trees and boxes out of the landfill, city and county officials are ready to launch “Operation Christmas Clean Up” next month.

For the seventh straight year, the Solid Waste Disposal Authority and its curbside recycling program, Recycling Alliance of North Alabama; the city of Huntsville; Huntsville Utilities; Madison County; the city of Madison; and Green Team are hosting the program.

“Being able to work alongside our community partners and provide these designated drop-off sites has proven that area residents want a safe and reliable way to dispose of Christmas their trees and other household items,” said SWDA Executive Director “Doc” Holladay. “Last year there were approximately 500 cars and more than 1,000 trees dropped off, and that doesn’t include all the unwanted electronics that went directly to the HHW (Household Hazardous Waste facility).”

Residents can recycle their Christmas trees, flattened and broken-down cardboard boxes, batteries and old electronics.

To recycle a live Christmas tree, participants must remove all lights and ornaments. Recycling Christmas trees is better for the environment because it keeps trees out of landfills, where they produce methane as they decompose, and instead turns them into useful mulch or compost that enriches soil.

This will be the only opportunity to recycle Christmas trees in Huntsville, Madison and Madison County. In case of rain, the event will be rescheduled to Jan. 17 at the same time and location.

The event will be Jan. 10 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at two locations

• Huntsville – John Hunt Park
• Madison – Madison City Schools Stadium on Celtic Drive

Items not accepted

• Artificial trees
• Lights and ornaments
• Wrapping paper
• Packaging materials (Styrofoam, plastic, straps)

For questions, call the Solid Waste Disposal Authority at 256-880-6054.

For more information about the RANA curbside program, visit www.recycling-alliance.com.

For more information about the Green Team, visit Green Team – City of Huntsville (huntsvilleal.gov)