When the post-holiday cleanup begins, remember: Rockville collects and recycles electronics, such as cell phones, computers, televisions and holiday lights through requests for special collections, and collects Christmas trees as part of its recycling and trash collection.
Place trees at the curb for pickup on regular recycling and trash collection days after removing all ornaments and metals, wires, stands and decorations, including tinsel. Trees should not be bagged. There is no deadline for curbside collection of trees. (Note that the Montgomery County Recycling Center, which formerly converted the trees into mulch, no longer offers this service.)
Artificial trees should be placed in the gray trash cart for regular weekly collection. Artificial trees that are too large to fit in the cart can be collected by appointment, as one of six bulk collections allowed per year, or taken to the transfer station.
Getting rid of old batteries? Don’t dispose of them in your trash or recycling cart, where they could start a fire. Instead, bring batteries of any size to the household hazardous waste drop-off at the county transfer station at 16105 Frederick Road.
For batteries larger than 9 volts, including rechargeable batteries found in phones, laptops and power tools, cover the terminals with packing tape or duct tape and place them in a plastic bag or container, separate from batteries that don’t require being taped.
Find more information, including locations that accept batteries for recycling, at bit.ly/BatteryDisposal.
For more information about how Rockville recycles, including printable holiday schedule calendars for your collection day, visit www.rockvillemd.gov/recycling-trash. For a bulk waste or electronics recycling collection appointment, select “Bulk Waste” or “Electronics & Metal” from the red sidebar at the left of the webpage.