Collected Christmas trees will return to Bratislava: 150 bookcases will find their new home in leisure centres, primary art schools and single-parent families, while mulch will be used in gardens

This season, the city, the Waste Collection and Disposal Company (OLO), the Municipal Enterprise, BUČINA EKO, IKEA Industry and IKEA have once again collected Christmas trees. Bratislava households handed over more than 43,000 trees for recycling, amounting to 240 tonnes. The trees will again be returned to the city. Some of the bookcases will find their new home in leisure centres, primary art schools and single-parent families. This year, some of the collected trees were also used to make mulch, which benefits the shrubs, trees and flower beds of Bratislava households.

The collection of conifers took place from 4 January to 16 February 2024. Residents were provided with access to 700 wooden enclosures distributed all across Bratislava. More than 43,000 trees, weighing a total of 240 tonnes, were dropped off here after last Christmas.

Households with gardens are already using the mulch; the bookcases will be delivered to the places where they are needed the most

A pilot New Year's mulching took place at the end of January in Lamač, with 200 Christmas trees from Bratislava turned into the end-product, mulch, which Bratislava residents took back to their trees, shrubs and flower beds. This conifer chipping prevents overgrowth from weeds, promotes humus formation and retains moisture, reducing the need to water. The New Year's mulching of collected Christmas trees has become an annual tradition.

City Hall, OLO, Municipal Enterprise, BUČINA EKO, IKEA Industry and IKEA will donate one hundred and fifty bookcases made from Christmas trees to leisure centres, primary art schools and single-parent families in May. Once again, the bookcases will be filled with books from KOLO – the Bratislava Reuse Centre.

840 tonnes of Christmas trees recovered in Bratislava in 4 seasons of systematic collection

Since 2021, a total of more than 840 tonnes of Christmas trees have been collected in Bratislava. Thanks to support from the residents, these trees have become first compost and, for the last two seasons, bookcases.

"The Christmas tree collection project is an example of how meaningful cooperation between the public and private sectors can benefit the people of Bratislava and the environment. I am delighted that we have once again found a great use for used and non-decorated Christmas trees, which will be turned into bookcases and be delivered to leisure centres, primary art schools and to children. I am glad that we can continue to spread joy even after Christmas in this way. I was also very pleased with the New Year's Mulching, a pilot event where, for the first time, we turned some of the collected Christmas trees into fragrant mulch, which people snapped up immediately. I myself was surprised by the popularity of this project, and it's a great motivation to continue it in the coming years," says Mayor Vallo.