SHUTTERSTOCK

Just a day after Christmas, the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County will start collecting live Christmas trees for recycling.

The City has opened 11 drop-off locations where residents can take their trees so they’re not delivered to a landfill if left at the curb. They will be accepted from Tuesday, Dec. 26 through Friday, Jan. 26. Last year, the city collected 1,600 trees in this program. They were chipped into mulch and provided to the public for free in the spring for their home gardens. 

Allegheny County also is offering this collection program in its nine county parks, from Tuesday, Dec. 26 through Sunday, Jan. 14, from 8 a.m. to dusk. More than 3,000 trees were collected in this program last year and the mulch was used for various purposes throughout the park system’s 12,000 acres. 

For both of these programs, residents must remove all ornaments, lights, netting and stands from the trees.

Pittsburgh residents also soon will be receiving their refuse and recycling collection calendars from the City, which include two changes to curbside collection. 

• The City will now only collect cardboard and other recyclable materials on designated recycling weeks, which occur every other week. 
• Recycling materials will no longer be accepted in plastic bags. Residents must place recyclables loosely in their bin at the curb. 

Here are the city’s drop-off locations for live Christmas trees:

Allegheny Center
Sue Murray Swimming Pool 
Parking Lot #301 | Stockton Avenue  

Brighton Heights  
Jack Stack Swimming Pool
600 Brighton Woods Road

Brookline  
Brookline Recreation Center 
1400 Oakridge St. 

Hazelwood – 3rd Division of Public Works
Open Year Round   
40 Melanchton St.  Pittsburgh, PA 15207  
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.  
412-422-6524  

Highland Park  
Highland Park Zoo 
7370 Baker St.
(enter zoo parking lot from Baker Street, follow the signs to back of lot) 

Homewood North – 2nd Division of Public Works
Open Year Round    
6814 Hamilton Ave. (North Dallas at Hamilton avenues)  
Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.  
412-665-3609   

Perry North/Observatory Hill – 1st Division of Public Works
Open Year Round   
300 Kilbuck Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15214 

South Side 
Southside Riverfront Park 
Lower Parking Lot 

Squirrel Hill South  
Prospect Drive Roundabout 
Schenley Park  

Sheraden  
Sheraden Park Parking Lot 
Surban Street  

West End – 5th Division of Public Works
Open Year Round
1330 Hassler St. Pittsburgh, PA 15220  (Off Herschel and Steuben streets near Herschel Park)
Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
412-937-3054