Blue Earth County offering free Christmas light recycling

Residents with broken or unwanted Christmas lights can recycle them for free in Blue Earth County following the holiday season.

The Blue Earth County Property & Environment Resources Department is helping to keep the holidays “green” by reducing waste with the Holiday Light Recycling Program, which will ensure that lights are properly recycled.

Strands of holiday lights that are broken or are no longer needed will be collected at no cost for Blue Earth County residents.

A drive-through collection will be available at the Blue Earth County Household Hazardous Waste Facility on December 28th and 31st, and on January 6th and 8th from noon to 4 p.m.

Residents will enter through the front gate and drop lights in a bin.  Hazardous Waste drop-off will not be available those days.

The Waste and Recycling Division offered a few tips for disposing of holiday items:

• Ribbons, bows, and tinsel cannot be recycled and should be placed in the garbage.
• Broken decorations should be disposed of by placing the items in a box and throwing them in the household trash.
• Remove all tape, flatten, and place your cardboard in your curbside recycling container.
• Check with your city officials about local yard composting options for Christmas trees.
• Styrofoam packaging is not accepted in curbside recycling bins and should be disposed of in the garbage.
• Foil and glitter decorated wrapping paper should be placed in the garbage, but other wrapping papers should have tape and décor removed, crumpled into a ball, and placed into your recycling bin.