For immediate release:  December 26, 2014 

Contact:  Mindy Linetzky, (415) 554-4829

CHRISTMAS TREE CHIPPING CELEBRATION

Annual event turns twenty-eight. Celebrate with a giant chipper outside of City Hall.  

What: Ceremonial Christmas Tree Chipping news conference. 

The holidays wouldn’t be complete in San Francisco without running some Christmas trees through the giant wood-chipper and getting a whiff of the fresh scent of  mulched evergreens permeating the air outside City Hall. 

The press event will announce the official dates of curbside Christmas tree collection in San Francisco – Friday, January 2 through Friday, January 16, 2015. 

This year, as in years past, the City and Recology Sunset Scavenger and Recology Golden Gate will collect Christmas trees placed at the curb. Last year San Francisco recycled more than 539 tons of Christmas trees.

When:  Friday, December 26, 2014 – 11:00 AM 

Where:  Civic Center Plaza, East side of Plaza, Larkin St. 

Why:  Recycling Christmas trees helps the City make additional progress toward its goal of achieving zero waste.

San Francisco, CA –City officials will gather in front of City Hall to conduct the 28th annual “Chipping of the Trees” event and announce the official dates of San Francisco’s Christmas Tree Collection Program. Christmas tree collection will take place on regular service days between Friday, January 2 and Friday, January 16, 2015. Residents should place clean trees at the curb next to their recycling carts before 6 a.m. on their regular pick-up day. Please do not pile up trees on the street corner. Be sure to remove all tinsel, decorations, plastic bags, stands, fake snow “flocking” and lights. If the tree is over 6 feet, please cut it in half.

“Treecycling is a great way to keep the holiday season green,” said Debbie Raphael, Director of San Francisco Department of the Environment. “San Francisco’s commitment to chipping Christmas trees means that hundreds of tons of discarded trees will be turned into energy, instead of taking up space in our landfills.” “We encourage everyone who disposes of a Christmas tree to take advantage of this great program that helps us get closer to our zero waste goal,” said San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru.

Trees will be chipped at Recology’s San Francisco transfer station and recycling center at 501 Tunnel Avenue. The wood chips will be transferred to Tracy where they will serve as biomass (boiler fuel) to generate electricity.

The collection dates are posted on www.RecologySF.com. For more information email Recology through the “contact us” form atwww.RecologySF.com or call the company at (415) 330-1300.

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