How to dispose of your Christmas tree in Sweden

Local Sweden

27-12-2024

The holiday season lasts until January 13th in Sweden and many wait until then to get rid of their Christmas tree.
But many begin to shed their needles around New Year's, so you may want to dispose of it early.
Here are some of your options:
First of all, if you live in an apartment building, ask the housing association that owns your building what their plan is for helping residents dispose of their Christmas trees.
Some associations may ask residents to chop the tree up into smaller pieces and put it in the building's recycling room – others may have ordered a company to come and pick up trees and you'll have to put it in a certain location on a certain day.
In any case, don't simply dump the tree on the street or you may get fined 800 kronor or more.
If the housing association isn't organising anything, or if the recycling room is already filled to the brim, your next point of call is the local municipality. Some offer pick-up services and others have specially designated Christmas tree drop-off points.
In Stockholm, for example, there are more than a hundred Christmas tree drop-off points scattered across the city between December 25th and January 31st. Look for a green-and-white sign of a Christmas tree or check out a map of all of them here.
You can also bring the tree to a recycling centre, where it's usually recycled as garden waste (trädgårdsavfall) or there will be a special drop-off point marked julgranar ("Christmas trees") at the recycling centre.
Remember to remove all the tinsel and decorations before throwing away the tree.
If you own a house, you can also cut up the tree and throw it in your own bin for garden waste – but bringing it to a recycling point may still be the most hassle-free option.
If you have your own garden compost, you can use the thinnest branches to help create air circulation at the bottom of a new compost pile, but in general Christmas trees aren't ideal for mulch as spruce takes a long time to decompose.
If you're thinking of burning the tree in your fireplace, think again. Depending on the species used, Christmas trees may have needles covered with highly flammable wax and filled with carbon dioxide.
Attempting to burn wood and pine from these trees in your fireplace can release intense heat and flames, potentially leading to chimney fires or even fires within your home.
Furthermore, burning parts of the tree can emit unsafe gases, posing a danger to your health.