Environmentally Friendly Utilization of Christmas Trees

Christmas trees collected from the streets in Budapest – estimated to be over half a million – are being used in an environmentally friendly way, the Waste Management Division of the Budapest Public Utilities Ltd. (FKF) announced on Friday.

According to the statement, the real "placement dumping" starts after January 6 and usually lasts for one to one and a half months.

The public can choose from several options when placing the trees: they can place the serviced Christmas tree at any of the more than 250 designated collection points, or they can place it next to the household waste bins on the day of waste collection. In the latter case, when placing the trees, care must be taken to ensure that they do not obstruct pedestrian, bicycle and motor vehicle traffic, they noted.

FKF asks the people of Budapest to choose one of the above two solutions and not to throw their wood in public areas, thereby endangering the safety of others and the cleanliness of the capital.

The company announced that Christmas trees collected daily are transported from the designated collection points after crossing the water by pine trees, which – according to FKF's experience – most of the Budapest residents get rid of in this environmentally friendly way. In parallel with the pine trees, the municipal waste transporters collect the evergreens from the residential properties, and if necessary, special vehicles also help in the removal of the large trees.

The FKF requests that people remove the ornaments, sparklers, candy hooks, and especially the bases from the trees before they are placed on display.

Conifers with a high calorific value are chopped and mixed with municipal waste and sent to the boilers of the Capital Waste Recycling Company. The thermal energy obtained in this way is used to produce environmentally friendly district heating and electricity with high-efficiency, so-called combined energy production, the company said.

The thermal energy produced in the facility reaches about 76,000 apartments in Budapest via the Főtáv network in the form of district heating and domestic hot water, and the electricity produced meets the annual electricity needs of about 50,000 average households in Budapest, according to the announcement.