Now in its fifth year, the council’s successful Christmas ‘tree-cycling’ scheme has so far achieved:
- £120,000 has been raised for local charities
- 15,000 trees have been repurposed and recycled
- over 200 tonnes of carbon emissions saved.
People in North Somerset and surrounding areas can either take their tree to Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in Wraxall, or arrange for their tree to be collected from their home by St Peter’s Hospice or Weston Hospicecare in return for a donation. All trees must have decorations and the pot removed.
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm will be accepting trees between Thursday 2 and Sunday 26 January. Trees should be left at the collection point in the main car park during zoo opening times (10.30am to 4pm). Donated trees will either be chipped or used whole for animal enrichment within their habitat.
St Peter’s Hospice, who have their fundraising headquarters in Long Ashton, will collect trees on Friday 10, Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 January from selected postcodes across North Somerset including Backwell, Clevedon, Nailsea, Pill, Portishead, plus many areas of Bristol. Trees will be chipped and used for mulch across allotments and at Frenchay Christmas Tree Farm, or used in the biomass boiler at Blaise Plant Nursery. Tree collection must be prebooked online at www.stpetershospice.org/treecollection.
Weston Hospicecare’s Pines for Pounds will collect trees on Saturday 11 January in the BS22, BS23, BS24, BS25, BS26, BS27, BS29, BS40, BS49, TA8 and TA9 postcode areas. Trees are taken by the charity volunteers to Weston household waste and recycling centre to be recycled with household garden waste, or used for other repurposing projects. Please prebook tree collection online at www.westonhospicecare.org.uk/pinesforpounds.
Councillor Annemieke Waite, North Somerset Council’s executive member for climate, waste and sustainability, said:
"I’m delighted North Somerset Council is once again supporting these local Christmas tree recycling schemes. As well as raising a fantastic amount of money for local charities, the schemes ensure thousands of trees do not go to waste and can instead be repurposed and used again as a valuable resource.
“Thank you to all our partners who help us make the Christmas tree recycling schemes happen, particularly our street cleansing contractor Glendale Services who are once again donating their time and resource to help with the chipping.”
Christmas trees can also be taken to one of the three household waste and recycling centres in North Somerset where they can be recycled with the garden waste. Check the council’s website for advice, location details and opening times www.n-somerset.gov.uk/recyclingcentres.
Residents signed up to the garden waste collection service can put their trees out for collection when the service resumes from Monday 13 January 2025. Trees can either be chopped up and put in green garden waste bins or left whole alongside. They must be shorter than two metres in length and have the pot and all decorations removed.
For regular updates and news, follow North Somerset’s Recycling and Waste team on social media at Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).