Amsterdam makes Christmas tree recycling worthwhile

People who opt to recycle their Christmas tree after the holidays may be richly rewarded in South and New-West Amsterdam. The districts raffle prizes among the residents who drop off their tree. Not every district is so generous though.

While the Christmas tree is currently contributing to the holiday spirit in the living room, it will turn the floor into a green carpet in less than two weeks and it will need to be taken down. Each district has its own approach to collecting the trees.

christmas tree
futureshape
Flickr

People who turn in a tree in South or New-West this year receive 50 euro cents and a lottery ticket. The ticket enters them into a drawing of several prizes, such as an iPad and a bike in district South. District New-West focuses more on sporty children and raffles sixteen popular Space scooters or a fully catered party at trampoline paradise Bounz.

In district North people traditionally start a Christmas tree fire in Floradorp. On new year's eve residents can turn in their Christmas trees there. The fire department puts out the fire at 2:00. In Centrum and West the trees can be put on the curb starting January 2nd. In Southeast the tree can be added to the bulky waste, as long as all the ornaments are removed, because the trees are recycled as green waste.

It is unclear what is to happen to the trees in the Oost district. Information on pickup times and raffles is available on Amsterdam.nl.