Anyone who disposes of their Christmas tree incorrectly faces a high fine

Created: 04/01/2023 08:13

By: Fabian Pieper

Across Germany, millions of citizens dispose of their Christmas trees.

But mistakes can be made – and they can be expensive.

Berlin – Christmas is over, and Christmas decorations and lights are gradually disappearing from private households and public spaces.

However, not all of it can be stored for the coming year, especially the Christmas tree.

In most cases, it already doesn't look as fresh as it did at the festival.

And so in the coming days more than 25 million Christmas trees in Germany, the country where the Christmas tree was invented, will have to be disposed of.

How to properly dispose of a Christmas tree?

Municipalities regulate it differently

Many municipalities and cities have developed their own routines for when and where Christmas trees can be handed in or picked up.

In rural areas, this is often done by sports, homeland or youth clubs.

They often collect the trees from the front door on set days, free of charge or for a small donation.

In larger cities, on the other hand, this task is usually carried out by local waste disposal companies.

In Hanover, for example, discarded trees can be laid down in more than 200 places between January 9th and 20th.

The municipal waste disposal company then collects the trees and disposes of them properly.

These Christmas trees are obsolete.

But if you dispose of them incorrectly, you risk a high fine.

© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

Dispose of the Christmas tree: for example at a recycling center, green waste collection point or in organic waste

Anyone who has missed these deadlines can simply hand in the trees to the nearest recycling center or green waste collection point.

Smaller trees can also be dismantled and disposed of with organic waste.

In bulky waste, on the other hand, Christmas trees have no place.

Fireplace owners often burn their trees themselves.

This is allowed, but the tree should be thoroughly dry beforehand, otherwise the chimney will become sooty.

And some tree owners wait until spring and then dispose of the trees at the nearest Easter bonfire - that's also allowed.

Some zoos also accept Christmas trees.

The animals like to play with them or eat them.

However, zoos and animal parks usually limit themselves to unsold trees, as this allows them to track where the trees came from and whether or not they were treated.

Consumers should therefore call the zoo and ask whether a disused Christmas tree will even be accepted there.

Up to 500 euros fine for illegal disposal of the Christmas tree: These mistakes can be expensive

Important: Christmas decorations are no longer allowed to hang on the old trees.

There is no longer any place for tinsel and Christmas tree balls there, as the trees are usually composted or burned after they have been collected.

That's why they have no place in bulky waste.

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Improper disposal is treated as an administrative offense and usually results in a fine.

The amount of the fine varies from state to state, but can be uncomfortably expensive.

Anyone who illegally disposes of their tree faces a fine of up to 500 euros.

• These fines threaten illegal disposal of Christmas trees

• Baden-Württemberg: 25 to 300 euros

• Bavaria: 50 to 320 euros

• Bremen: 50 to 500 euros

• Hamburg: 100 to 500 euros

• Hesse: 30 to 200 euros

• Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: 40 to 500 euros

• Lower Saxony: 40 to 500 euros

• North Rhine-Westphalia: 5 to 200 euros

• Rhineland-Palatinate: 25.56 to 306.78 euros

• Saarland: 100 to 500 euros

• Saxony: 25 to 200 euros

• Schleswig-Holstein: 30 to 200 euros

• Thuringia: 30 to 200 euros

• Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt: No information

Disposal in nature or in parks and careless parking on the street are not permitted.

Because old Christmas trees are considered green waste, and therefore garbage.

Improper disposal is therefore considered illegal waste disposal.

Trees do rot in nature, but this process takes several years, especially in the case of sprayed and treated trees, and affects nature.

Additional fines can be imposed if Christmas trees are parked on the street or cycle path and disrupt traffic.

In the worst case, there is even a point in Flensburg.