How to dispose of holiday trees

There will be no refuse, recycling, or compost collection on Christmas Day or New Year's Day. For commercial and residential customers with regular Friday collections, pickup will be on Saturday.

Please place your carts curbside by 7am. Collection may occur later in the day than usual. If your collection is more than one day behind schedule, call (510) 981-7270 to report a missed pickup.

All Saturday commercial pickups will occur on Saturday as regularly scheduled.

Holiday tree disposal

When you're ready to dispose of your holiday tree, remove all lights, decorations, tinsel, plastic bags, and plastic tree stands. You can cut trees up and place them in your cart for curbside collection, or drop off whole trees at the City's Transfer Station.

Curbside collection

Cut your tree up so it fits into your green plant debris cart with the lid closed. Whole trees can damage the City's collection trucks and will not be picked up if left on the curb.

Flocked, or "snow-covered" trees are not compostable. If you have a flocked tree, cut it up and place it in your refuse cart.

If you don't have tools to cut your tree to fit into your cart, the Berkeley Tool Lending Library  is a great resource for free tool rental.

Tree drop off

You may also drop off holiday trees at the City's Transfer Station at 1201 2nd Street (off Gilman). Remember to remove all lights and decorations before bringing in your tree.

The Transfer Station will take compostable trees for free through the end of January. There is a $29 fee to drop off flocked or plastic trees.

The Transfer Station is open 8am-4:30pm Monday-Saturday, and will be closed on Christmas and New Year's days.