After the holidays, a real Christmas tree is recycled into compost. In Brussels, put it out on the pavement on the garden waste collection day, with no decorations or pot, leaving the wooden cross stand in place. Missed the collection? Take it to a Bruxelles-Propreté Recypark. Elsewhere in Belgium, your municipality sets the collection.
Where can you throw away your Christmas tree in Brussels?
Depending on your municipality and your schedule, you have five options:
| Option | Who, where | What you need to know |
|---|---|---|
| Bruxelles-Propreté street collection | All Brussels residents, on the pavement outside their home | The usual garden waste day (green bags); no pot or decorations, cross stand left on |
| Regional Recypark: Buda, Demets, Humanité, Sud | All Brussels residents | Garden waste accepted free; branches in bundles, trunks over 20 cm in diameter refused |
| Auderghem Recypark | Residents of Auderghem, Ixelles, Etterbeek and Watermael-Boitsfort | Private individuals only, tree cut into bundles |
| Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Recypark | Residents of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre and Woluwe-Saint-Lambert | Private individuals only |
| Pick-up after the holidays by Vert Sapin | Customers of our home service or our services for businesses | On quote, as part of that service; not for a tree ordered on the website |
Access rules and addresses are on Bruxelles-Propreté’s Recypark page (in French).
How do you prepare your tree for collection?
Bruxelles-Propreté puts it simply on its sorting guide for Christmas trees: remove the pot and all the decorations, leave the cross stand. In practice:
- Strip it completely: lights, baubles, hooks, topper. Check all around the lower branches, where a hook is easily hidden.
- Remove the netting and any packaging.
- Leave the wooden cross stand on: it makes the tree easier to handle.
- Check the collection day for your street with the address search on the Bruxelles-Propreté website.
- Put it out on that day, lying along the front of the building, without blocking the way along the pavement.
The dates change every year, so we do not list them here. Bruxelles-Propreté announces them in January, and the City of Brussels passes them on to its residents.
What happens to the tree after collection?
It goes to the regional Bruxelles-Compost centre. The trees are shredded there, then turned into compost in about six months. The Brussels collection gathers roughly 100 tonnes a year, according to Bruxelles-Propreté, quoted by the Brussels press. This compost goes back into the soil: it is the last stage of a real tree, one that an artificial tree does not have.
My municipality has no Recypark: where should I go?
Several municipalities have no Recypark that accepts trees, including Evere, Ganshoren, Koekelberg, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode and Uccle. Their residents can go to one of the four regional Recyparks, open to all Brussels residents. Several municipality pages, at the bottom of this article, name the ones you can use.
Can you compost your tree at home?
Yes, but not whole. Cut off the branches and shred them, or chop them into small pieces. Resinous wood breaks down slowly, and the needles make compost more acidic: mix them in small amounts with other garden waste. Shredded, the branches also make a good mulch around flower beds. The trunk is better taken to the Recypark, as long as it is no more than 20 cm in diameter.
And outside Brussels?
In Wallonia and Flanders, collection depends on your municipality or its inter-municipal waste company. Some collect from the street in January, others accept trees at the container park. Check your municipality’s website or calendar: it is the only reliable source, from one year to the next.
Can you have your tree picked up from your home?
Only as part of a service on quote. Our home service sets up and decorates the tree, then picks it up once the holidays are over: for private customers as well as for businesses, offices, shops or building lobbies. Pick-up after the holidays is not offered for a tree ordered on the website: that one goes to the collection.
A tree well cared for in December stays beautiful to the very end: the right steps are in our guide to caring for a real tree. And decorations that are put away carefully will be used again next year, on a fresh Nordmann fir or Norway spruce: our article when to buy your Christmas tree gives the right time to order it.
Key points to remember
- In Brussels, the tree goes out on the pavement on garden waste day, bare, with the wooden cross stand left on.
- Missed the collection: Buda, Demets, Humanité or Sud Recyparks, open to all Brussels residents.
- The dates change every year: check them with Bruxelles-Propreté or your municipality.
- Once collected, the tree becomes compost at Bruxelles-Compost.
- Pick-up after the holidays by Vert Sapin only exists as part of a service on quote, not for a tree ordered on the website.
