There will be no curbside trash collection on Friday, Dec. 25, in honor of Christmas Day, or the following Friday, Jan. 1, in honor of the New Year’s holiday. Curbside trash collection will resume on the next regularly scheduled collection day.
For areas with Friday recycling collection, Metro Service Group and Richard’s Disposal will conduct special collection days. Metro Service Group will collect on Monday, Dec. 28. Richard’s Disposal will collect on Saturday, Jan. 2.
Trash will be collected on Thursday, Dec. 24 and Dec. 31.
Once the end-of-year holidays are over and Carnival begins, it’s time for recycling Christmas trees. The city will continue its Christmas tree recycling program in an effort to restore and protect the Louisiana coastline.
New Orleans residents are encouraged to recycle their trees by placing them at the location of their regular garbage collection before 5 a.m. on the regularly scheduled second collection day from Thursday, Jan. 7, to Saturday, Jan. 9, for properties serviced by Richard’s Disposal and Metro Service Group.
Only natural, unflocked trees that are free of tree stands and all trimmings (decorations, ornaments, tinsel and lights) will be collected for recycling. Flocked, artificial trees, trees in bags, or trees with trimmings will be collected with the garbage and transported to the landfill. Trees are not to be placed on the neutral grounds, as this delays the collection process.
Working collaboratively, the City’s Department of Sanitation; waste management contractors Metro Service Group, Richard’s Disposal and Empire Services; the city’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and the Louisiana National Guard will collect, sort and bundle the recycled trees. They will then be placed in selected coastal zones to restore wetlands lost to erosion and subsidence.
In 2019, more than 6,000 Christmas trees were collected in Orleans Parish after the holidays and then airlifted by the Louisiana National Guard into the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge to create new marsh habitat. After the trees are dropped by helicopter, workers come by boat to move them to their final position.
Over the course of this program, recycled Christmas trees have restored an area of marsh equal to almost 200 football fields. The trees also create important habitat for birds, fish, crabs, crawfish and shrimp.
Visit here to see your sanitation service provider and schedule. Residents seeking more information should call 311.