Milwaukee Christmas tree policy change; special DPW meeting Dec. 11
MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Common Council’s Public Works Committee announced on Tuesday, Dec. 5 it will hold a special meeting to discuss a new Department of Public Works policy whereby DPW crews will no longer collect cut Christmas trees along collection routes. That special meeting will be held Monday, Dec. 11.
In a memo shared with Common Council members, the DPW states the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) "recently revisited its longstanding interpretation that previously deemed Christmas trees as a household decoration. Instead, the DNR has clarified that it now considers holiday trees to be yard waste and thus subject to the State’s yard waste landfill ban."
According to the memo, Milwaukee residents will be required to drop off cut Christmas trees at the city’s Drop-Off Centers (or at two temporary collection locations) "or make other arrangements."
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"Let's assume everybody actually did that," said Alderman Robert Bauman, chair of the Public Works Committee. "You'd have a line of people trying to get in the drop off center from 37th in Lincoln to probably 10th in Lincoln because it's probably 100,000 Christmas trees in the city that will be disposed of at some point during the month of January. They'll be tossed on the curb. And now they're telling everybody, you got to take it to the drop-off center."
Bauman said first, residents would need a vehicle to take a tree to the drop-off center. Not all households have those. Then you need a valid driver's license because you can't get into the center without one.
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"So needless to say, we're not going to be seeing many Christmas trees dropped off at the drop-off recycling center, which means they'll be placed on the curb like they are every other year," Bauman said. "And that's where they will stay until whenever, April, May, when we get around to the clean and green program where we go through to clean up sort of the springtime cleanup waste, They literally will be sitting on our curbs for months as obstacles to plowing, obstacles to pedestrians, obstacles to parked cars. It's craziness."
Milwaukee DPW guidance
DPW will provide additional temporary locations for residents to drop off cut Christmas trees to supplement the two drop-off centers. The temporary sites will be open from Jan. 11 to Jan. 15, 2024. Staff will not be on-site to assist with unloading trees or placing them in the collection area. All decorations must be removed. Trees collected at the two drop-off centers and temporary sites will be composted.
You are invited to visit Milwaukee.gov/holidaytrees for location details and updates.
DNR guidance
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources encourages residents to make a plan now to properly dispose of holiday trees after celebrations wrap up.
Wisconsin law generally prohibits landfill disposal of yard waste, including leaves, grass clippings, brush and pieces of wood (branches, sticks, etc.) under 6 inches in diameter. The yard waste disposal law has been in place since 1993.
The DNR does not act as "trash police," but rather works with communities to divert yard waste from landfills through composting and other waste reduction activities. The DNR recommends chipping or composting yard waste because that organic waste takes up a lot of landfill space, has value for gardening and landscaping and creates harmful greenhouse gases when it breaks down in landfills.
If your municipality or a private service provider offers drop-off or curbside tree collection for residents, remove lights, decorations and wires before placing the tree on the curb or taking it to the drop-off center.
If tree management is not offered in your area, check out the Wisconsin Recycling Markets Directory for a list of licensed composting facilities by selecting "Licensed Composter Facilities" in the drop-down menu.