Madison Christmas tree pickup starts Jan. 3; recycling expands
Madison street crews will begin collecting discarded Christmastrees on Tuesday, with two collection cycles planned two weeksapart.
Streets Division spokesman George Dreckmann said trees should beput curbside by 7 a.m. on Tuesday or Tuesday, Jan. 17, regardlessof when your trash is collected.
The discarded trees will be processed at curbside using largechipping machines.
To prevent foreign material from going through the chipperblades, Christmas trees should be bare, with no light strings,ornaments, metal objects or tree stands attached.
Wreaths, garland, boughs and evergreen rope will not becollected with the trees. instead, they should be put into thebrown trash carts.
A tree put at the curb on Tuesday doesn’t mean it’s going to bepicked up on Tuesday, but sometime during the two-week pickupperiod.
“Snow and ice control takes priority,” Dreckmann said.
Meanwhile, Madison has expanded its recycling program for 2012,with more plastic and metal items now accepted in the greenrecycling carts.
Plastic containers numbered 1 through 7 are now in the recyclingschedule. This includes dairy product tubs, deli containers, andclear clamshell packaging and lids.
Plastic bags, such as retail store bags, grocery bags, producebags and newspaper bags can be recycled. Bag should be put into onebag with that bag should be tied shut.
Metal items now accepted in the cart include empty steel paintcans with lids, metal pots and pans, small metal appliances such astoasters or blender bases, metal power tools and metal faucets andpipes (less than 18 inches long).
Dreckmann said the city negotiated a lower fee for sorting andselling materials, saving taxpayers $173,470 a year. The newrecyclables are expected to save the city $20,000 to $25,000 inlandfill fees and generate $60,000 in revenue from selling thematerials.
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