Recycling Christmas trees: No more Christmas trees in landfills
The Regional Association of Solid Waste Management Agencies of Central Macedonia and the Hellenic Ministry of the Environment and Energy have worked together on a pilot project promising "No more Christmas trees in landfills".
The project recycles discarded trees, using wood chips as a secondary raw material to make pellets, biofuels and chipboard, and as organic waste for composting. The trees are collected mostly at municipal disposal points. Landfill operators have supported the project by banning the disposal of Christmas trees at their facilities.
The project encourages locals to take part. They have helped collect Christmas trees by going door-to-door, encouraging voluntary, broad participation in local environmental protection.
©Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
- Members of the public are involved in the process and participate in collecting Christmas trees.
- 2800 Christmas trees were collected (3 tonnes) in 2019, and chips scattered across forested areas.
- In 2020, the regional association aims to use them to make pellets.