Rockville collects Christmas trees as part of its recycling 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.
While the Montgomery County Recycling Center, which formerly converted the trees into mulch, no longer offers this service, the county recommends recycling branches and needles at home by using them as ground cover under trees and shrubs or by chopping them up and adding them to a compost pile.
Artificial trees cannot be recycled and 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. For bulk-waste disposal information, visit www.rockvillemd.gov/bulkwaste.