Anyone who has ever been to Berlin in January knows the phenomenon: from the end of December / beginning of January, a conspicuous number of Christmas trees can be seen here and there on the sidewalks, at street corners, intersections, streetcar stops and sometimes even on the street. This is not a Berlin interpretation of a imaginary Swedish tradition (“KNUT”), but the official and more or less correct way of disposing of Christmas trees in Berlin. Just place your old tree on the sidewalk, and the Berlin city cleaning service BSR comes by sooner or later and collects the trees.
But please make sure that your Christmas tree is not just lying anywhere on the sidewalk and possibly blocking the way, especially for older people and people with disabilities, a ‘wild’ Christmas tree can be a nuisance – or even become an insurmountable obstacle. Berlin’s sidewalks are often in a difficult condition after New Year’s Eve anyway – there is no need for additional obstacles.
Please also make sure that the tree is completely undecorated. Tinsel, bows or Christmas tree baubles have no place on a Christmas tree left on the street.
What happens to old Christmas trees?
There is a persistent rumor that the Christmas trees collected by BSR are fed to elephants at the Berlin Zoo. Unfortunately, this is not true. Perhaps this used to be the case, but nowadays the trees are usually shredded and then disposed of as organic waste. Around a third of the shredded Christmas trees are then used to generate energy in regional biomass power plants.
However, some Christmas trees are still fed to elephants – but only those that were not in use i.e. trees that were for sale but were not purchased are suitable as fodder.
When does BSR collect Christmas trees?
In the past years the Berlin trash and recycling service BSR has expanded their Christmas tree service. This year (2025) the trees are collected between January 8th and January 21st. On the website of BSR you can check the date for your street with interactive calendar tool: www.bsr.de/weihnachten. You just need to enter your address and then you’ll get the dates, when BSR comes to your street to pick up the Christmas trees.
Merry Christmas!
See also:
Berlin Trash / Berlin Recycling
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