CITY CHANGES TREE COLLECTION POLICY

Getting rid of the family Christmas tree after the holidays may be a little more difficult this year.

The city of Cape Girardeau will no longer haul off the trees with the regular trash pickups, said Doug Kaminskey, environmental services coordinator for the city.

A new state law prohibits the burying of Christmas trees in landfills as of Jan. 1.

The city will have special pickups of Christmas trees on Jan. 8, 15 and 22, but those who want to have their trees picked up at the curb must call the Public Works Department to get on the pickup schedule, Kaminskey said. The telephone number is 334-9151.

Kaminskey said there is a $5 charge for the special pickup, which will be added to the customer's regular bill. The fee, he said, covers the cost of collection.

The trees collected by the city will be taken to a site in the southeast section of Arena Park, along Atlas Drive.

As has been the case for the last several years, Kaminskey said, city residents can drop off their trees at the Arena Park site at no charge. The trees will be accepted from Dec. 30 to Jan. 10.

The trees will be recycled, with perhaps a few hundred trees to be used by the Missouri Conservation Department for fish habitat. The rest will be ground up for use as mulch.

Dan Muser, director of Parks and Recreation, said the mulch will be made available to city residents at no charge. The remainder of the mulch will be used by the city, he said.

Muser said the Arena Park site received about 400 trees last winter. He said it's hard to predict how many trees will be brought to the collection site this winter.

Kaminskey said informational fliers are available at the Christmas tree lots. The fliers explain the city's new tree collection policy.