Tallinn's district governments have set up a total of 79 collection points across the city where old Christmas trees can be given away for free. Collected Christmas trees are not dumped in landfills, but are reused for district heating in the city's houses or to generate electricity.

According to Deputy Mayor Joosep Vimm, Christmas trees are a very good raw material for wood chips. "This year, too, Christmas trees will be used as topiary in Tallinn and we will certainly continue this tradition in the future. I urge everyone to take their Christmas trees to the right collection points so that they don't just litter the cityscape. If this is not possible, you can have them collected by your waste collector," said Vimm.

"Recycling Christmas trees for energy has become a good tradition, and this year again we invited the districts to work together on this project so that we can produce green energy for a green capital. In addition, the action of recycling Christmas trees helps to keep yards and streets tidy and supports the circular economy mentality," said Olga Petrova, Marketing and Communications Manager of Utilitas energy group.

Utilitas' appeal was joined by the districts of Mustamäe, Lasnamäe, Kristiine and Haabersti, where SLG Energy OÜ will use the collected Christmas trees to produce wood chips that Utilitas will use for district heating in the city's buildings. The fir trees brought to the collection sites in the Nõmme, Kesklinna, Pirita and Põhja-Tallinn districts will also be used to produce heating or electricity. 

The list of Christmas tree collection points and the end dates of collection by district can be found on the city's website. Old Christmas trees can also be disposed of in the normal way, as can other large items of waste. In cases where residents do not have transport, they can arrange for trees to be collected by a local waste collector and taken to a container at an agreed time.

Residents are reminded that Christmas trees must not be wrapped in plastic,decorations, plastic, cloth or other material. It is also forbidden to bring any other rubbish to the collection points: building materials, household waste, etc. It is also forbidden to bring any other waste to the collection points. It is not allowed to throw them next to containers, in green areas of the city or in places where municipal waste from apartment buildings is normally collected. Artificial flowers and decorations can be handed over to recycling centers or placed in mixed municipal waste bins. Christmas lights are electrical waste and should be taken to a waste collection point.

More information: https://www.tallinn.ee/et/keskkond/jaatmejaamad-tallinnas