Overview
- Hamburg’s Stadtreinigung starts street pickups on 5 January 2026, urges early drop-offs at the city’s recycling yards, limits curbside trees to 2.5 meters, and collects larger ones only for a fee.
- Frankfurt’s FES offers disposal via cut-up pieces in household bins, direct drop at RMB Rhein-Main Biokompost, and a free special collection vehicle from 7 January with district-by-district dates through 27 January.
- Leipzig provides about 160 free drop-off sites from 27 December to 31 January and warns that illegal dumping can draw fines of roughly 25 to 50 euros.
- Dresden accepts trees free at all city recycling yards from 27 December to 31 January, adds more than 100 collection points from 29 December to 10 January with special intake sites on 10 January, and applies small fees from 1 February.
- Collectors require trees to be completely undecorated as tinsel may contain lead requiring hazardous waste disposal, while most of the roughly 30 million trees sold each year are shredded for compost or energy; organized events such as tree-throwing in Ströbitz on 10 January and a Potsdam throw on 9 January followed by a 11 January bonfire offer regulated alternatives.