Allegheny, Westmoreland provide plenty of places to recycle your Christmas tree

Once Christmas is over, that tree in the living room goes from a way of remembering the holiday to “All right, how are we going to get rid of this thing?”

If you live in Allegheny or Westmoreland counties, you don’t have to look far to dispose of your tree and also to help additional trees grow.

Both counties have a multitude of sites for Christmas tree recycling. Last year, Allegheny County Parks Department workers turned about 3,500 trees into mulch. Considering that one live tree makes about five pounds of mulch, that’s more than eight tons of mulch ready to be spread around come spring.

“We have a place in all nine of our county parks, and we’ll take them all the way until Jan. 14,” county parks Director Andy Baechele said.

In Westmoreland County, there are 15 sites to drop off trees, thanks to program partners Westmoreland Cleanways, Penn Township, the Borough of Youngwood, and J.A. Rutter Co. in Murrysville.

“Those trees become part of a whole recipe of different green woods that we grind and screen for composting,” Rutter CEO Jamie Matkozich said. “We use a variety of different materials, whether it be chips, grass, logs or leaves.”

Each additional material brings its own blend of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen to the composting mix.

“Once those are together, we can start to see the magic happen through the composting process,” Rutter said.

Matkozich said Westmoreland’s program typically processes between 10 and 15 tons of Christmas trees each year.

“We usually fill two to three 40-cubic-yard Dumpsters,” she said.

For those unable to make it to one of the recycling locations, Matkozich said trees can be brought straight to J.A. Rutter, 4917 Old William Penn Highway in Murrysville, where they will be recycled at no cost.

In Pittsburgh, there are five locations for tree recycling through Jan. 26, and the city government even made a cheeky video to promote the program.

Here are the various locations for Christmas tree recycling:

Allegheny County

All Allegheny County locations will be open from 8 a.m. to dusk Dec. 26 to Jan. 14.

• Boyce Park soccer fields at Boyce Park, near the intersection of Pierson Run Road and Centerview Drive in Plum.

• Veterans shelter parking lot at Deer Lakes Park, 1090 Bailies Run Road, West Deer.

• Parking lot at Chipmunk and Cottontail drives at Harrison Hills Park, 5200 Freeport Road, Harrison.

• The mansion parking lot at Hartwood Acres, 200 Hartwood Acres, Indiana Township.

• Swimming pool parking lot at North Park, 303 Pearce Mill Road, Hampton.

• The Alfalfa shelter parking lot at Round Hill Park, 651 Round Hill Road, Elizabeth.

• The wave pool parking lot at both Settlers Cabin Park, 608 Ridge Road in Collier, and South Park, off of East Park Drive in South Park.

• The Chestnut shelter parking lot at White Oak Park, 3 Muse Lane, White Oak.

City of Pittsburgh

A sponsored location, at the Pittsburgh Zoo parking lot entrance, will be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., at 7370 Baker St., just off Butler Street.

The city’s drop-off locations will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays. Call for Saturday hours. All locations are open from Dec. 26 to Jan. 26.

• 300 Kilbuck Road, 412-323-7209

• North Dallas Avenue at Hamilton Avenue, 412-665-3609

• Melanchton Street near its intersection with Second Avenue in Hazelwood, 412-422-6524.

• 1330 Hassler Street, 412-937-3054.

Westmoreland County

Unlike above, each listing in Westmoreland has its own hours and dates.

• Jason Wilkinson Nursery, 115 Wilky Lane, Armbrust, Dec. 26 to Jan. 15.

• Allegheny Township maintenance building, 1169 School Road, Allegheny Township, Dec. 25 to Jan. 31.

• Derry Borough garage, next to salt shed on East First Avenue, Derry, Dec. 26 to Jan. 31.

• Schramms Farms & Orchards, 1002 Blank Road, Penn Township, hosted by Boy Scout Troop 239, Jan. 9 and 16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Donations will be accepted.

• Hempfield High School auxiliary parking lot, Route 136 at Middleton Road, Hempfield, Dec. 26 to Jan. 26.

• Valley Landfill, 6015 Pleasant Valley Road, Penn Township, Dec. 26 to Jan. 31, from 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays only.

• Level Green Fire Department, 536 Route 130, Trafford, Dec. 26 to Jan. 31.

• Country Market Field at Lower Watershed Farm, corner of West Main Street and Springer Road, Ligonier Township, Dec. 26 to Jan. 31.

• Mt. Pleasant municipal compost site, between Kennedy Avenue and North Depot Street, Mt. Pleasant, Dec. 30 to Jan. 31, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays only.

• Windstream parking lot, Franklin Street in Murrysville, Jan. 9 and 16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Donations will be accepted by the Murrysville-Export Rotary, whose members will be on-site to accept trees.

• North Huntingdon public works building, 12319 Route 30, North Huntingdon, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends throughout January.

• Greenridge Reclamation Landfill, 234 Landfill Road, Scottdale, Dec. 26 to Jan. 31, from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays only.

• Unity Township municipal building, 154 Beatty County Road, Unity, Jan. 2-31, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• Youngwood Borough maintenance building, 508 South Third St. behind Hillis Street Laundromat, Youngwood, Dec. 26 to Jan. 18, from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on weekdays only. Do not leave trees at the gate.

For more, see WestmorelandCleanways.org.