What to Do With Your Christmas Tree and Extra Recycling

The Newport Public Services Department’s Clean City Program would like to encourage residents to participate in the Maximum Holiday Recycling program, a recycling program that allows residents to easily recycle extra recyclables from holiday gifts.

The Maximum Holiday Recycling Program allows residents to use any reusable container up to 32 gallons or a paper yard waste bag to recycle additional items. Residents are also encouraged to re-use items if possible before recycling them. Reusable containers or paper yard waste bags filled with recyclables should be placed next to your recycling bin and should be clearly marked “holiday recycling.” To help our recycling staff distinguish your trash from your recycling, you can separate your containers by item by placing them several feet apart from each other, such as placing your trash and recycling on either side of your driveway.

Residents can put out extra recycling in a yard waste bag for the first collection after Christmas for one week only. The special collection will take place on residents’ delayed trash day from Wednesday, December 26 through Saturday, December 29, and then again for Monday’s collection day on December 31. Extra recyclables can always be placed in a reusable container any time of year, but should be clearly marked. The Clean City Program has free “Extra Recycling” stickers available for residents.

Items accepted curbside in a barrel or paper yard waste bag:

• Paper & cardboard that is normally collected in the Recycle Together RI: gift wrap, gift boxes, gift bags, tissue paper, cardboard. Tape on gift paper in small quantities is ok, as it is removed in the recycling process.
• “Blister packaging” – the often hard-to-open, firm plastic packaging that items such as small toys and consumer electronics come in. Sometimes you pull this packaging open, cut it open, or rip it from a cardboard backing. Any other plastic container under 2 gallons and other items under the Recycle Together RI program are also accepted.
• Cardboard boxes that will not fit in your bin or paper yard waste bag must be emptied, flattened, bundled & tied and cannot measure larger than 3 feet in any direction. Flattened residential cardboard, regardless of size, may be dropped off for recycling at the Clean City Program office at 80 Halsey Street.

DO NOT Recycle in your bin:

• Foil & plastic coated gift wrap
• Ribbons or bows
• Christmas lights or any other cords or wires
• Styrofoam: Clean, dry Styrofoam blocks and peanuts can be brought to the Clean City Program’s Spring Recycling Day on April 27. Do not recycle Styrofoam in your bin at home.  If you cannot bring it to the Recycling Day event, please place this material in the trash.
• Plastic bags or film: clear or lightly colored plastic bags and films that stretch—including air-paks and bubble wrap can be brought to the Clean City Program office, or back to the grocery, pharmacy, or big-box store along with your plastic shopping bags.

The Clean City Program has partnered with the Friends of Ballard Park to promote the reuse of working Christmas lights & lamps. The Friends of Ballard Park are in need of working Christmas tree lights of all shapes, sizes and color and lamps that are 2 feet or higher for use in their 8th Annual Illuminated Garden in February during Newport’s Winter Festival.

Friends of Ballard Park is also looking for clean one or half gallon milk jugs. The jugs will be used by Newport elementary school students to build igloos which will be displayed at the February event. Friends of Ballard Park will acknowledge all donations with a receipt which may be used for tax purposes. Drop off lights to the Clean City Program Office located in the city yard at 80 Halsey St., Monday through Friday between 8:30 am to 4:30pm, or at the Friends of Ballard Park’s office at 226 Bellevue Avenue #10 Monday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm. Friends of Ballard Park will also pick lights up by calling 619-3377.

Residents can also recycle non-working lights through www.holidayleds.com and click on the “Free Light Recycling” link. You can mail lights to them for the cost of shipping and receive a coupon for 25% off the purchase of LED lights, which will save energy.

Newport City Hall and RIRRC’s Central Landfill will be closed on Tuesday, December 25 and Tuesday, January 1. Both observed holidays will result in a one day delay in trash and recycling collections for the remainder of the week.

Christmas trees and yard waste will be collected curbside during the week of January 14 residents’ regularly scheduled collection day. Please do not put the tree in a plastic bag, and remember to remove all ornaments, tinsel, garland and lights.

The 2013 City of Newport Solid Waste & Recycling Calendar is available to download at www.cityofnewport.com/cleancityand will also be mailed to residents shortly before the new year.

For more information about the City of Newport residential solid waste and recycling collection program, contact the Clean City Program at 845-5613 or visit the above website.